Suzanna Telmarvak a story of loss and hope
by noruas bombadil
Summary: Jorge 6prime. after the events of post action-reaction, Yang makes a shocking discovery and both Jaune and Orin have some explaining to do. Join me as we follow the tale Suzanna Telmarvak. we will see her life, her love, and her death. and perhaps much, much more. As always any reviews are appreciated. simply be honest kind and human. formatting error in chapter 12 has been fixed
1. Chapter 1

Yang was furious or was she. She was heartbroken or was she. She didn't know. All Yang could do is standing the doorway of Jaune's room and stare blankly. Neither Jaune nor the woman with him seemed to notice her. Her heart was frozen cold in her chest. Her eyes dimming to a sad and lowly purple.

It was at this moment that none other than Jorge appeared behind her. Through her own pain, she could see his face almost instantly twist into one of disbelief and rage. " WHAT THE HELL AM I LOOKING AT" he bellowed in a voice filled with such power that it echoed throughout half of the school and felt throughout the other half.

The booming voice seemed to finally snap the two teens from there mutual enthrallment. When they turned and saw that both Yang and Jorge were standing in the doorway they began to turn several shades of red in embarrassment.

"Jorge, I don't know what you think you see here but I am almost certain that you are mistaken." Jaune's voice was mildly afraid as the expression on Jorge's face.

"Really Jaune, because it looks to me like you are in bed kissing my DEAD ex-girlfriend." the edge that now filled Jorge's voice was sharp enough to cut through steel.

Now it was the woman's turn to speak. "Um," she said as stood up and looked at Jorge. "I don't know who you think you are, but I don't know you and I have always known Jaune."

The whole room was filled with confusion. As Jorge knew the woman before him as Suzail. But this was younger than the last time he saw her. And Jaune seemed to know her and yet he had never mentioned her to anyone. As it all stood the room was a powder keg waiting to be detonated. If Jaune said the wrong thing then the two people standing in his doorway would most likely try to kill him. And of course, the only threat that Jaune noticed was the one posed by Jorge. He seemed completely unfazed to have Yang standing in his doorway. As everyone stood where they were in silence Yang seemed to lose her temper and storm off leaving a trail of burnt carpeting behind in the wake of her fit of rage.

It was at this time that Orin rounded the corner and found Jorge standing Jaune's doorway. "Jorge" Orin said as he motioned for Jorge to follow him around the corner. They did and once they were both around the corner Orin found himself lifted into the air and pinned against the wall by his cousin's force grip.

"The fuck did you do Orin, I didn't tell you about Suzail so you could bring her back and throw at Jaune. So you have thirty seconds to explain before I do something that ONLY I will live to regret."

Recognizing that without a very good reason he would be a smoldering corpse in a matter of moments Orin began to speak with calm assurance. "Jorge, that isn't Suzail, and I had no other choice. It was either do this or let the Arc boy accidentally rediscover how force sensitive he is and then watch as he suffers the pain you and I know all too well."

Now it was Jorge who was confused and dropping his cousin to the floor he said. "You just bought yourself enough time to explain. Now start talking."

Orin slowly rose to his feet and after dusting himself off and then he spoke. "Do you remember when you needed to leave Remnant for a few years.?"


	2. Chapter 2

Orin was in a mild panic. Jorge had left to go do God only knows what at God only knows where. And he was stuck trying to keep the world of Remnant from falling apart around him. So far he had to kill four sith assassins who somehow wound up here. Three terentateks that he assumed were chasing the assassins. And two literal dragons. (he didn't even want to know where the dragons came from) suffice to say it had been a long day. So he went to his cousin Galmaron before the party.

They were the three musketeers back in their day Jorge, Galmaron, and Orin. Jorge and Galmaron were the oldest but Jorge and Orin were the most powerful.

Orin had just reached Galmaron's front door when the older man opened it for him. "Well hello, Orin" as Orin realized that Galmaron and his wife Jochebed were on their way to the Arc house. The Telmarvaks and the Arcs had long been friends so it wasn't uncommon for them to meet up for a fun little gathering and what is more it was Jaune Arc's first birthday.

Orin quickly set about trying to think of a present for the young Arc. He knowing that the young Arc would be interested in being a hunter one day so he swiftly disassembled his lightsaber and removed one of the six crystals that it contained. Holding it in his hand he used the force to reconfigure that gem into a kaleidoscopic lens. Then he bent and fuzed a ring of metal around it in order to make holding the lens safer. It would be a trinket he could stare into as a child to find amusement. And gaze into as an adult to find nostalgia.

Looking down at his hands Orin smiled. It was an old trick that Jorge taught him. A Kyber crystal when reformed into such a lens made for a fun little Kaleidoscope that doubled as a plasma focusing lens in the event that the boy ever needs a plasma focusing lens. It was undeniably less of an awesome kaleidoscope for a non force sensitive but in the hands of one, it also could show force signatures through walls. (a quality that he accidentally discovered when Nanamba used one to see more of him and Naverande than she ever wanted to.)

"A force lense, I haven't seen one of those in years," Galmaron said. He was right of course. Orin hadn't made one of these since Nanaba and Naverande were taken from him. They hadn't died. No, he had died and then Jorge brought him back. One of the side effects of which was that he no longer aged. He was doomed to be twenty-three years old until the end of days. Some would see it as a blessing. But to him and to anyone else who was afflicted in such a way knew it was, in fact, a curse. He was not only forced to spend eternity as a twenty-three-year-old man but he was also never to seek out his first love and apprentice. I must maintain the sanctity of death whenever I can. He had said. Not that Orin believed him. He was being punished he knew it. Darth Orain had done terrible things to the galaxy. And his self-sacrificing death to destroy Abas Boor and his fleet did not atone in full for the things he had done.

Shrugging off the crestfallen appearance he had was no doubt stretched over his features he turned to Galmaron and said "yes it has been a while, however, I believe this to be a good reason to make another one. We had better get moving or we will be late."

The Arc house was a mess. But it was a familial mess so neither Romerean or Isabao minded too much. Catherine was leading her sisters as one mass to fix all the decorations. Catherine actually had Romee strapped to her back as she worked. The little girl was such a leader. Isabao was about to tell Catherine that Romee needed to take a nap when Jaune started to squirm in her arms. It wasn't often that he WANTED to be out down so Isabao chose to oblige him. As soon as he was on the floor he began to wiggle around like a confused earthworm. It was apparent that he was trying to reach the front door and as soon as Isabao had that thought there was a knock on the door. Striding over to the door she opened it and in the doorway stood Jochebed, Galmaron, and Orin. with a smile, she let them all in.

"Where would you like us to leave the gifts?" asked Galmaron. A large wrapped package in his arms and a smile on his face.

She thought for a moment before she pointed to the kitchen table and said. "Just over there will be fine, thank you."

Orin stepped in last and said. "I actually need to go but I came by to wish the lad a happy birthday and to give him this." holding out the lens he said. "I made it big enough that he can't put it in his mouth but when he gets older he may enjoy staring into the lens and letting the stress of his work roll off of him. I know that I certainly have."

Stooping down Orin handed the lens to the young child who immediately began to try and stick it in his mouth. With an amused laugh, Orin turned and said his goodbyes. He had no way of knowing the can of worms he had just opened in Remnant.


	3. Chapter 3

Romerean was impressed. Normally Jaune clung to either him or Isabao and almost never left their side. And now he was practically glued to Jochebed. No one could explain it. He hadn't done this any of the other times that they had met before. But now he refused to let go of her. He was doing his best to wrap his arms around her waist and was muttering incoherent baby gibberish at her stomach. Jochebed assured them that this was okay and that she didn't mind. It was actually a little disheartening that none of the other gifts that were supposed to be good for one-year-olds had managed to even grab his attention.

"I think Jaune may have something off, he is completely disinterested in everything other than Jochebed." Romerean's words were sincere and he was already planning to talk to Jorge whenever he got back from wherever he was. Until then he would keep his eye out for any other distinctive actions on his son's part.

Isabao didn't seem to afraid of the actions of her son and so she placed a hand on his shoulder and told him. "He is gonna be alright. Don't worry about it." she was right of course. The mind of a one-year-old was far from an exact science.

That was almost a month and a half ago and every time that Jochebed and Galmaron stopped by the results were the same. Jaune would do everything he could to find Jochebed and then try with all his might to wrap his arms around her waist and continue to mutter incoherently. As it turned out Jochebed was pregnant the whole time. And when Orin found out about this he calmly looked at her through the force lens that Jaune had discarded Jochebed had shown up and after looking through it he started to laugh in a manner that reminded Romerean of a man who was laugh because it was the only thing he could do.

"What is it Orin?" as he spoke Romerean was slowly stepping closer to the seemingly unstable twenty year old.

"The boy is force sensitive, hahaha and so is Galmaron's unborn kid. They have been bonding with each other this whole time." after a few more insane laughs he just staggered out of the house saying that "this was just what I needed to find out today."

Once he was gone Romerean and Isabao at once turned to Galmaron and in unison said. " the boy is force sensitive?"

In response to the question, Galmaron began to explain that what Jorge said was his semblance was, in fact, him tapping into a power source known as the force. He explained that it was a kind of energy akin to gravity. It was everywhere and in everything. He explained that there were microorganisms called midi-chlorians that can function as a sort of electrical transformer. The more of them you have then the more power you can draw on. He also said that by the way that Orin reacted to seeing Jaune through the lens he would guess that the boy was loaded with them. And if that is so then he will need training, if Jorge isn't back soon then I can try to teach him what I know.

Romerean and Isabao where staring at Galmaron with confusion written across their faces. Recognizing that this discussion could talk a while he looked at Romerean and said. "Rome, what are you confused by."

"Well, probably the part about some kind of energy that is everywhere.?"

Galmaron groaned inwardly and said to himself. "This could take a while."

…

Galmaron had taken a few months to reconnect himself. Then he waited for Jaune to turn six. It was agreed that at that age his training would start. There was, however, one major problem. Jaune wanted nothing to do with training. But since Galmaron could ask the boy to simply stop being sensitive to the force and since the boy was admirably very strong it the force he couldn't just leave him untrained. Someone with his level of untouched power could accidentally kill someone during a temper tantrum.

And in spite of that Jaune only seemed to want to spend time with Galmaron's daughter Suzanna. They were absolutely inseparable. The only time that Jaune got any training done was when Suzanna was training with him. And Galmaron didn't like that, it was bad enough that Jaune wasn't getting his full training but the only training he got was with someone else acting as the anchor for his focus. Without her, Jaune may not be able to focus at all. And if he couldn't focus then he couldn't control his powers.

In truth, it was cute at first when they were infants and they would nap together. They were the running gag of both families. It was assumed that they were going to get married one day. It was just a matter of when. This was good and bad. It meant that Jaune may always have her to serve as his impulse control. But it also put all of their eggs in one basket. And Galmaron didn't like that thought very much. All he could do was wait for the time bomb that was Jaune Arc to explode and then try his hardest to put the pieces together again.

He was worried about his daughter but he also knew that she took her training far more seriously than Jaune.

And that raised a good question, where was his daughter. She said she was going to visit Jaune and since they had moved after Suzanna was born and now lived less than a hundred yards away from the Arcs. Galmaron had said she could go until it was time for dinner. But now she was five minutes late. This wouldn't be a major issue for most children. After all, unless they were ten to fifteen minutes late they may just be walking slowly but Suzanna was a very punctual child and was never late for anything. She was better at being on time than her own father.  
Galmaron was trying not to run as he walked to the Arc residence. after all, they most likely lost track of time all together and he would find them either playing in the backyard or he would find them cuddling where they both dropped from exhaustion. He was greeted by a very different sight that did nothing to limit his fear's. Both Jaune and Suzanna were nowhere to be seen and more unnervingly they were nowhere to be heard either.

Now he was running to the yard. The Arc's lived far out from the city and while that provided a great deal of privacy and meant that you kids could walk a hundred yards to the "neighbor's" house and you wouldn't have to worry about any humans doing anything. The threat of animals or worse Grimm still loomed. Once he was in the Arc's front yard he saw something that only increases his concern more. There were no cars in the driveway. And that meant that Romerean was on a mission and Isabao was for whatever reason, not home. That, in turn, meant that no adults other than Jochebed were here. And even though she came over to spend some time with Isabao she may have gone with Isabao wherever she went. So only Jaune and his sisters would be home when Suzanna arrived. The fact that Suzanna knew she should have come home if there were no adults home aside Galmaron felt his hand drift to his pocket where he kept his knife.

It was just a simple pocket knife but even though he was out of practice in the art of combat he was still a Telmarvak and in his hands that knife was as deadlier than a gun. He approached the door and saw that it was open a jar.

He cursed under his breath and pulled the knife from his pocket and unfolded it. He kept it tucked behind his leg so that it wasn't seen by anyone in front of him. As he stepped through the door he saw that one of the lights was on in a back corner of the house and he heard hushed voices coming from it. As he got closer he recognized the voices as Romerean's oldest children Catherine and Jacqueline. Recognizing that the threat was no longer present he silently folded the knife back up and placed it in his pocket.

"They are so cute aren't they," Catherine said as Jacqueline and her watched Jaune and Suzanna having dinner at the little kid's table before them. They were eating a reasonably well-made dinner. Of leftover pasta and bread. All and all it was a romantic or at least what passed as romantic for a couple of six-year-olds.

Galmaron stood and watched the two children who both looked very uncomfortable with the fact that Jaune's sisters were clearly trying to set them up. Or at least Jaune looked uncomfortable with that fact. Suzanna seemed to be in her element. It was most likely due to her either not understanding the implications of her have a "dinner date" with Jaune. Or she had helped his sisters set the whole thing up. He had a slight feeling that it was the latter. After all, she was her mother's daughter.

He was considering rescuing Jaune from his torment by taking Suzanna home. That was when his wife stepped out of the shadows and wrapped her arms around his waist. Galmaron eased himself back into his wife's embrace. They lingered there for a moment before he turned to face her. Galmaron knew he didn't deserve the loving family he now had. He had done terrible things to people on his home planet of Tangent Minor. And ye even after he told Jochebed of the atrocities he committed she looked into his eyes and said. "That is not the man I fell in love with." it was the first time she had told him that she loved him.

Returning his focus to the children who had yet to notice the two adults watching them. He thought of what he had done with the power he possessed in the force. And Jaune was as strong as he was if not stronger. If that boy ever lost his control and allowed the dark side to possess him like he had then he would need to be eliminated by Orin as Jorge most likely couldn't bring himself to do it.

Thinking of Jorge Galmaron was starting to worry about him. He had been "missing" for almost seven years now. And while Galmaron was confident that Jorge was alive he was concerned that he may be trying to tinker with reality.

It was a secret kept between Galmaron and Orin but it hurt Jorge to watch Romerean fall in love and get married. There was a woman that Jorge once loved named Suzail. It was part of the reason why Galmaron was so hesitant to name his daughter Suzanna. Because Suzail had cheated on Jorge and broken his heart, then the bitch up and died before Jorge could get any closure. As a result of that betrayal, Jorge had never fully recovered and Galmaron was beginning to doubt that he ever would.

Galmaron's concern was that Jorge was trying to resurrect Suzail. That way he could either kiss her or kill her, but it would be his chance at closure all the same. The problem remained that even though Jorge was powerful to the point of omnipotence he still had certain rules he refused to break for anyone. " if I allow my power to void the natural order of life and death, good and evil. Then no matter what I do I am taking away someone's choice. I always want the world to make the right choice and if I wanted to I could force the world to make the right choices. But then they wouldn't be choices anymore now would they. " that was what Jorge said he also said that " no matter what good my action's would accomplish or what the end result would be right is right and wrong is wrong, the attached scale of the cost is irrelevant."

Galmaron was pulled from his deep thoughts by the realization that he could no longer see the two children that he and Jochebed had been watching just moments before. Looking around they were found in Jaune's room cuddling like there was nothing wrong in the world. "If they were ten years old…" Galmaron said. This earned him an elbow in the ribs from his wife.

"When they are ten years older and you catch them like this you will come get me first." as she spoke she raised her scroll and took a single photo of the two sleeping children before them. " I say we let her spend the night."

Her suggestion wasn't without merit. If Suzanna was her with her mother's permission. (which she most likely was) then he saw no need to wake her up and bring her home. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that either she or Jaune ended up sleeping at the other's home. Romerean would understand.

"I say she can stay the night" Galmaron stated as he gently guided his wife from the room.

"I have no objections to that," she said as she walked beside him to the main room. It just so happened that as they stepped into the room Romerean and Isabao stepped in.

"Well, hello there," Romerean said as his sword hung at his side just inches from his hand. It was apparent that he wasn't expecting company tonight.

"Just us" Galmaron answered as he stepped a little more into the light of the nearby lamp. "Jaune and Suzanna got a little carried away and are now sleeping in Jaune's room. We'll come get her in the morning"

Romerean nodded and gestured to the door while making a "silence" sign with his other hand.

Galmaron and Jochebed made their way out and walked back to their now quieter house. Tonight they would be able to have some alone time and that made them very happy. That also brought up the fact that Galmaron left his daughter cuddling with a boy, now granted he knew that Jaune was most likely oblivious to the implications but that wasn't his concern right now since they were now home and he had much more important matters to tend to in his bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

_I am sorry for the delay, but i got a new game that I am playing and between that and school I don't always udpate these as fast as I should. thank you for understanding_

 _-Noruas._

Jaune awoke first, though to say he was awake was slightly untrue as he was merely no longer asleep. It would be several minutes until he was fully aware. But until then he was going to stay here and hold onto the nice smelling thing that was next to him. It was odd, his bed never smelled like this before. When he opened his eyes he saw Suzanna was asleep and that she was the thing that he was smelling. It made sense to him she always smelled nice.

Even though he wasn't trying to when Jaune got out of his bed he woke Suzanna up as well. Her hair was a mess and like she always did the first thing she tried to do was brush her hair. This plan failed when she realized that she wasn't in her bedroom and as a result didn't have her hairbrush were she left it. Looking around she realized that she had slept over at Jaune's house and that this time she had slept in Jaune's bed instead of wherever they collapsed from exhaustion.

Jaune noticed her confusion and quickly walked out of his room and into the bathroom. There he found a hairbrush laying on the sink. Taking it in hand he made his way back to his room and on his way, he saw Catherine looking at him with a big smile. He smiled back and walked back in.

Walking up behind Suzanna he began to brush her hair for her. This wasn't the first time he had done this. After all his sisters had made sure to teach him all about how to treat Suzanna. "Always hold the doors and pull out her chair for her." Catherine would say.

"Never be afraid to hold her hand or brush her hair for her." Jacqueline would always echo. As they spent hours beforehand teaching Jaune how to be a perfect Gentleman. They had sunk a lot of effort into that so Jaune listened and learned. And now he had begun to braid her hair for her. After he had finished they both went out to the kitchen to see about breakfast.

In the kitchen, Jaune's mother was standing at the stove with Romerean reading to her in the corner. Walking over to his mother's leg Jaune said "mommy, wats for breakfest.?"

Looking down from the stove top to see her son standing at her foot she said. "Oatmeal sweety. And it is almost done so why don't you and Suzanna go sit at the table."

Following the orders they were given the two children sat in the chairs that were meant for children. Soon enough Isabao brought them both bowls of oatmeal with a slice of buttered toast. The children began to devour the porridge and after a moment Romerean noticed something odd. Suzanna was eating with her left hand. And after finding Jaune's left hand Romerean saw that it was intertwined with Suzanna's right hand.

It may have seemed odd at first that he would make her eat with her left hand but this was actually a modern adaptation of an ancient gentlemen's act. When a man was walking with his beloved and they held his arm they held his right arm as his sword would hang on his left hip. As a result of where the woman was the man could easily pull his arm free of her grasp and draw his sword without fear of accidentally maiming the woman with him.

The modern adaptation of this is to have the loved one stand on your left in order to facilitate easier drawing of a concealed pistol which is commonly carried on the shooter's right side. It seemed simple but it was actually a very nuanced thing that Romerean had taught to Jaune by example. Even though Romerean carried a sword Jaune was smart, extremely so for a child of his age and as a result, he had decided on his own that since he would use a gun because his father used the family sword that he needed to keep Suzanna on his left.

"How did you guys sleep?" asked the two youngsters as they eat their breakfast. He saw the look that Catherine had and the smirk that grew across her face.

"We slept very well, but I think that Suzanna snores," Jaune said. This earned him a heart tearing pout from Suzanna. Sure she was the better fighter than him but she didn't need to use her hands to make him regret saying or doing something. She would just put on this sad pout and every time he would basically melt into putty and sure enough less than a second after she set her face upon him. He was hanging his head low in shame for being "mean" to her.

"I'm sorry, that was mean," Jaune said. As he spoke his voice showed that he was indeed sorry for his actions.

As she answered she leaned over and wrapped an arm around Jaune "It is okay I forgive"

Jaune perked up in less than a heartbeat, this brought a smile to Romerean's. Even now that girl had him wrapped around her finger and she knew it. He would jump if she said the word and if she told him to jump off of a bridge. Then he would. It really was adorable to see. "Jaune, Suzanna needs to go home after breakfast okay."

A brief moment of sadness fell over Jaune's face after he heard what his father said. Then his face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Dad, can I walk Suzanna home?"

The question was an obvious one that Romerean saw coming from a mile away. And he had already thought it over. Seeing no problem with it as long as they stayed on the road that he and Galmaron had cleared. He said. " as long as you stay on the path then yes you may."

The two kids quickly wolfed the rest of their breakfast down and headed for the door. Romerean almost told them to change out of the clothes they were wearing the night before but they just seemed so happy that he couldn't bring himself to stop them. He knew that the summer would end in a few months and that the sleepovers would end with it so he wanted them to enjoy this as much as they could.

…

Jaune and Suzanna were almost halfway home when Jaune noticed that something seemed a little off with Suzanna. She was being more quiet than usual. And she also held onto his hand with more force than usual. "Is something wrong Suzanna? Is it about the snoring thing, I said I was sorry."

Suzanna seemed to pale when he spoke like she didn't want him to notice the change in her behavior. "Well Jaune," she said looking at her shoe's very intently. "You see. …." the rest of her sentence was unhearable as she mumbled it so low.

"What did you say?" Jaune asked still confused by his friend's odd actions. He leaned in closer to look at her face. "What is wrong?"

All at once she blurted out "IthinkILikeyou."

It took Jaune a second to decipher her words and then a smile on his face caused her to think that he felt the same. Then he opened his mouth and said. "Of course you like me I am your best friend."

His words brought up new levels of frustration in Suzanna. She had been trying to work up the courage to tell Jaune that she liked him for a long time now and when she did he had the nerve to not understand... No, she wasn't playing this game, if words wouldn't get through to him then actions would. Lurching forward she closed the inches between their faces and pressed her lips against his cheek. It was a swift kiss but she hoped that it would get the point across.

When she leaned back she saw that Jaune seemed to have frozen where he was. A part of her wished she had kept her eyes open so she could see his face when he realized what she had done. Jaune stared at her for a little while longer and then stared for a little longer still.

Worried that she had messed something up Suzanna began to run the rest of the way home on her own leaving Jaune where he stood. In less than a second, she had made it around the bend in the path and was out of sight.

Jaune remained there for a second as his hand ghosted over the spot on his cheek she had kissed. Then all at once, it made sense. And Jaune took off running after Suzanna. He had always known that they were close but now that he thought about her as more than a friend it made sense. They liked the same things and they liked each other, so why shouldn't they be more than friends. Jaune didn't really know what follows more than friends but he didn't care he was more intent on catching Suzanna than thinking deeply.

He had just made it to the bend when he heard a loud BANG! Jaune stopped for a moment and clutched at his chest as he felt something within him suddenly seem to vanish. Running even faster down the path Jaune saw Suzanna laying on the ground and a bunch of Faunus standing around her. One of whom had a gun in his hands.

Running past them Jaune fell to his knees when he saw Suzanna. There was a small hole in her head about the size of a pea. She was dead.

"No, No, No" as he spoke Jaune felt a dark power build within him. And the longer he stared at Suzanna's body the more power he felt. It was invasive, penetrating. It filled every inch of him and seemed to flow through his veins. " , No" he continued, the power was building and building and it wanted out.

In one final cry he screamed "NNOOO" and all at once the power erupted from his body in a wave of lightning. The blast overtook and tossed the Faunus' through the air. The lifeless bodies hit the ground with an unceremonious THUD.

Even after the power was cast out from him Jaune still cried. He felt as though a part of him was gone now. He kept on sobbing when his mother and father found them. His father instantly went to work check if any of the Faunus were still alive while Isabao tried to get Jaune to let go of Suzanna. But no matter how hard she pried at his arms they never moved it was like they were being held in place by a force beyond this world. Finally, she managed to coax him into letting go of Suzanna by talking into his ear and telling him that mommy was there and that she was going to take care of him now. Once she got him to release Suzanna he turned around and clung to her with all the strength he had left.


	5. Chapter 5

"Orin," Jorge said. "How the hell can that be true, if Suzanna died then who is in Suzail's body? And how did you get Suzail's body?"

Orin adopted a proud expression and said "since you weren't here I had to deal with the fallout of the girl's death and I did that by erasing everyone's memories of her. As far as Jaune and everyone else is concerned Suzanna hasn't existed for the past twelve years. And as for how she is here and why she is in Suzail's body. The only thing I can say is that during a meditation period I found her soul wandering the cosmos. I still don't understand how it got there or why it was still there but I found it. And as for the body, well the DNA for Suzail was already discovered and out in the cosmos as well. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you Jorge?"

The question wasn't a question it was a statement, and it was one that Jorge understood all too well. He had spent those years away from Remnant trying to bring Suzail back to life. He was more than capable of doing this through power but it wasn't power that stopped him. He had to ask himself why he wanted to bring Suzail back so badly, sure he was in love with her once but that loved died the moment he saw her enter into Darth Valiner's home. He had loved her and she had taken advantage of that love.

It was for this reason that Jorge knew that if he brought her back it wouldn't be for happiness it would be so that he could vent all of the anger he harbored towards her. In the end it was decided that it was better for him to leave the dead in the past rather than bring her back for a purpose of evil.

That point aside if Jorge was understanding his cousin he was going to have to choose between slapping his back and being proud of him or snapping his neck and getting rid of the body. "Orin, did you actually manage to take a force coded string of DNA and make a body. And then forcing that body to accept another person's soul.?"

The question was spoken in a calm and level voice that honestly scared Orin more than Jorge's shouting voice. After all, Jorge wouldn't hurt him while he was angry, or at the very least if he did then he would feel bad about it afterward.

"Yes, I did Jorge" Orin's tone was equally even and calm fully accepting whatever came next. Whether it be an "atta boy" or a swift twist of his head. "Yes I did"

The silence and the waiting were more painful for Orin than whatever Jorge had planned. Yet when Jorge lifted his hand near Orin's shoulder Orin still flinched.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

the question shocked Orin. he was expecting some manner of attack but instead, he was being asked a simple question. Once he thought about it though he realized that it wasn't a simple question. Hanging his head low he said " I was ashamed of myself. You left the planet in my care and I got one of our family killed by not being there to protect her. I was afraid." his voice slowed to a stop. Jorge knew what he was going to say before Orin said it. Orin had a very rough childhood and his teenage years weren't that much better. As a result, he had serious abandonment issues. Not because the ones he loved left him but because most of them died. And then after he had gotten his beloved Naverande back and he had Nanaba at his side. Then it was his turn to die. If it wasn't for Jorge he would have.

"Orin," Jorge said this time his voiced filled with understanding and sympathy. "You know that no matter what you do, no matter how bad it gets. You are my family and I am always going to love you." as he spoke wrapped his arms around Orin and did his best to flood the scared man with the kind of love a father would show his son. After Orin lost everyone else it was Jorge who pulled him out and then Jorge had to leave him so that Orin would make his own way in life. But at least Jorge was coming back at some point.

It was not a matter up for debate that Jorge had become Orin father figure after Adnad"s death.

they held there for a time, Jorge soothing the storm of fear and pain running through Orin and Orin trying his best to regain his senses. After they had finished Jorge had to ask a very important question. "Orin how long until Jaune regains the memories of Suzanna's death, and how did you shut off his connection to the force?"

Looking up at Jorge Orin said. " do you remember the pet ysalamiri that Jaune had for many years?" Jorge nodded, he always found it odd that Orin gave a pet that could mask the powers of the force but now that he understood what happened it made sense.

"After you erased her from memory he still felt the part of his soul that the force had bonded to her's was gone. He probably didn't know why he felt so bad but then you give him a lizard looking pet and all of a sudden the pain stops. That was a good plan Orin." it didn't need to be said why Jaune hadn't been using the force until now. after all, feeling and using the force is a perishable skill. And a ysalamiri can live for a very long time. When it finally died Jaune was essentially force blind.

"Orin, how long until he regains the memories. He never learned to control them and he may end up hurting someone who gets to close.?"

Orin made to answer but he was mask by a soul tearing cry that answered Jorge's question. Jaune had just felt the pain of losing Suzanna a second time. And now he was losing his mind to the dark side of the force.

Turning to the room Jorge began to run. He had a lot of work to do with the boy and not a lot of time to do it in.


	6. Chapter 6

Jaune was confused and in pain. One minute he was sitting on the couch in his room with Suzanna, the memories of the time they had shared came flooding back to him. Then he had a wave of soul-crushing darkness rush over him. It was like he was back in the hallway all over. There was anger filling him to his innermost self, It was toxic. He had only felt an anger like this briefly during his time in the city of Durant. And a part of him had died out in that cursed city.

He tried to contain it but the look that Suzanna gave made the feelings worse. She was afraid and he couldn't stand to see that. The rage was too much the only thing that he could see was fear on her face and the rage was building. Finally, it was too much for him to contain and the power flowed out from him in a cry of pain and rage.

Then Jorge came in and held his hand out toward Jaune. Instantly the darkness began to fade from him.

"Jaune, I need you to focus on my voice. The thing you are feeling is called the force. More specifically you are feeling the effects of Bogan or the dark side. The only way for you to escape from this pain is to force your mind to focus on something peaceful, anything light. Only Ashla can expel Bogan."

Jaune listened and did as he was told. He centered his mind on the things of peace. He settled on the fountains in the Beacon Gardens. The way the moonlight reflected off of the cascading water. And danced on the cobblestone walls. Soon his heart rate had leveled out and he was breathing properly.

"Jaune, can you hear me clearly," Jorge said.

Jaune soon nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, loud and clear. Jorge what the hell just happened.?"

Jorge sat down in the backward facing chair at the desk which he had brought over to the couch. "In one words Jaune, darkness. Go get a cup of coffee because this is going to take a little while to fully explain."

…  
Jaune sat down next to Suzanna with a cup of coffee in each hand, one for him and one for her. "Okay Jorge, start talking"

Jorge first held up a coin and handed it to Jaune. "that is going to be an important teaching aid so hang on to that okay. Now the world as you know it consists of matter and energy. Your bodies and everything down to the rocks on which this school was placed are all made of matter. That is middle school science. The complex stuff is energy, your soul, for example, is a form of energy. Now the ordeal that you just went through was caused by a thing called the Force. It serves as a kind of bridge between matter and energy and helps to allow the two to interact."

now Jorge took the coin from Jaune and much to Jaune's surprise caused the coin to levitate flat in the air. With a slight movement of his finger, Jorge drew a few drops of Jaune's coffee out of its cup and on to the coin. Finally and to Jaune and Suzanna most miraculously Jorge had a tongue of fire rise up from his hand which he held below the coin.

"Now this isn't a perfect demonstration for many reasons but I hope it will do," Jorge said. "Now think of this coin as the Force and the fire as energy, and the coffee as matter. If I took the coin away then either the coffee would be vaporized or the fire would be put out. But with the coin there then the fire can affect the coffee in a whole new way."

As he spoke the coffee began to boil until it was mostly just the sugars left. "Many believe that the Force is the energy but I think the Force simple allows you to tap into the energy of the universe."

The fire faded and Jorge dumped the hot sugar back into Jaune's cup and then held up the coin once more. "Just like the force, this coin has two sides." as he turned the coin over he spoke. "Ashla, or the light side," he said as the unburned side of the coin was facing Jaune and Suzanna. "Bogan, or the dark side."

Handing the coin back to Jaune he continued. " in order for there to be one side, there must be the other. Ashla, or the light side flows more freely through peace and focus. Whereas Bogan, or the dark side flows more freely through intense emotions. I have actually already taught you how to use Bogan. And I will teach you to use Ashla. But it will fall to you to learn how to balance the two. And balance them you must. If you allow one to overtake the other then you will lose a considerable amount of power, Ashla is a long-term source of power so I would advise being in more contact with that but Bogan can offer you more power at the moment, it is also easier to tap into during a battle. But never ignore the balance. Without Bogan to force Ashla to move it will become stagnant. And without Ashla to reign Bogan in it will consume you and burn you out. Trust me I know from first-hand experience."

Electing to ignore the implications of that statement Jaune said. "So what happened when you came in here? It was like the darkness drained out of me."

Jorge smiled in the way that a teacher might smile when a student asks a good question. "Well, I didn't drain the dark out of you. Instead, I forced some of my own light into you. You could hold your own balance so I balanced you out."

Jaune nodded in understanding before turning to Suzanna. "Do you understand this, cause I am not quite certain that I do?"

Suzanna went to answer but was cut off by Jorge. "The same rules don't really apply to her, she is a Telmarvak. One of my direct family. The force works a little differently for her. For now, neither of you need to worry about it she will have no trouble controlling her power. … and please stop holding hands. I am still getting used to seeing your current face as a living one."

Looking down both teens noticed that they had in fact subtly intertwined their hands. "Um, Jorge." Jaune said." why does this bother you so much" as he spoke he raised their inter clasped hands higher into view.

Jorge gave off what seemed to be a half growl and looked to be fighting the urge to rip off both of their hands. " all your two need to know is that I had an issue with someone who looked an awful lot like Suzanna. So I really don't need to see her at all, let alone holding the hand of my former partner's only son. "

Now it was Suzanna's turn to speak. "I don't know you. And I don't know who the hell you think you are but I will hold any hand that I damn well please to."

At this Jorge had to leave the room. He was aware that he had failed to actually train Jaune. But the fact that Suzanna looks and was now acting just like someone he had spent 19,000 Mileena of lifetimes hating had caused him to leave as soon as he could. If Jaune couldn't control himself then Jorge would have to put him back in his place but for now, Jorge just needed to get some space.

Blake was more than a little concerned. Yang had just burst into team RWBY's dorm room with tears in her eyes and flames in her hair. The hair wasn't the most uncommon sight but the tears were what had Blake both confused and concerned. There weren't many things that could bring the pun centric boastful blonde brawler to tears. "Yang, what is wrong?"

Blake's inquiry went unanswered as Yang stormed over to her bed and buried her face in her pillow before she began to cream in a mix of pain and rage.

Once again Blake asked. "Yang, what has happened" when she was answered only by continued muffled screams Blake began to grow frustrated. She did not always try to interact with people but when she did she wanted them to interact back.

A part of Blake wanted to drop a textbook on he partner's back in order to at least draw some manner of reaction from her. But months with Yang as her partner had taught her that what she needed was someone to be there. Ever since her mother had left her Yang had a problem really and truly getting attached to anyone. She was a very social person but they were always engineered interactions that didn't convey any lasting connections.

It had taken Blake weeks to finally realize that Yang was keeping herself detached from the group in some small way. She was trying to make the eventual sting of one of them leaving or dying a little less bitter. But that was no way to live. No friendship can last forever on the physical level. And if she kept on distancing herself then she would never truly make any friends.

Sitting down next to her prone partner Blake did something she would normally never do. Reaching down she slowly wrapped her arms around her distraught teammate and gently rubbed her head against the back of Yang's head. This was two-fold. It was forcing Yang to cool her hair off to keep her from burning Blake and it also made it very clear to Yang that Blake was right here and not going anywhere.

"Yang" Blake whispered. "You need to talk to me, I can't really help you if you won't tell me what happened." Blake felt Yang move slightly under her head and when Blake lifted her forehead from the back of Yang's she saw her partner turn to look at her a face of frustration and pain plain to see.

"That is the problem, I don't know what is wrong. I was called to Jaune's room by a student and when I got there." As she spoke her voice began to fail her and grow horse while her eyes grew a disturbing shade of red. " they were fucking cuddling like a couple of giddy school children."

Blake still didn't know what happened but she knew it must have been bad. Yang wasn't a stranger to the art of obscene statements but she also knew that anything that got her to drop the F-bomb with the look she had must have been bad.

"Who did you see, you aren't making much sense Yang," Blake said as she adjusted her arms to better hug her teammate. She had her suspicions on who one of the"they" might have been but she wasn't going to jump to conclusions. She knew that there was something growing between Yang and Jaune but Yang was too afraid of getting too attached and Jaune. Well, while the boy was a tactical genius and a very skilled combatant he was about as emotionally aware of his surroundings as a brick. But if he had done something to hurt Yang then Blake was going to make him wish that he was a dead man. She still had friends in the white fang who would answer her call.

"What did Jaune do?" Blake's voice was as filled with love as she gets it. She wanted Yang to open up to her and it wouldn't be easy. After all, Yang was the kind of person to hide her pain in order to make things easier for everyone else. She gained that bad habit when she had to half-raise her sister.

"I don't know why but" Yang's voice was frail and rough. It sounded like she was both mad and sad all at once. "When I saw him with that woman I just, I could handle it so I ran by the time I made it here I was in full meltdown mode."

On the outside, Blake was calm in order to keep her partner calm but on the inside she was enraged. In body, she was sitting with her friend but in spirit, she was standing over her friend seething and ready to attack. Just because Jaune and Yang weren't an established couple doesn't mean that he has the right to break her heart like this. But if he didn't know what he was doing… well, Blake knew that Jaune may not even know that Yang had feelings for him. However, the decision of what to do with him could be contemplated after Blake had gotten Yang into a more stable state of mind.

"Hey, Xiao Long. you may want to head to the infirmary. I hear your team leader was just taken there."

The words came from a student who had just yelled them through the door. At first, Blake thought she heard an almost pleased grunt at the news of Jaune's new condition. Then after a moment, the voice continued. "I don't know how badly the man screwed up but I can almost guarantee that this is worse. He was taken out unconscious on a stretcher after the strange bearded man that showed upbeat the living shit out of him. It was bad."

Now Yang was moving. That amazed Blake whatever Jaune had done Yang was still willing to go and check up on him. Then Blake kept on thinking. And it hit her, the strange bearded man. One of the only people Blake had ever seen fight Jaune and win was Jorge and Jorge did indeed have a beard.

And if Jaune had fought with Jorge and Jorge actually fought back. Well it wouldn't end well for Jaune she knew that much


	7. Chapter 7

Suzanna was furious, some arrogant punk tried making a pass at her when Jaune took her to the cafeteria. She, of course, offered a rebuttal for the student who looked so large and solidly built that he may have been a subspecies of an oak tree. This had in turn been enough to aggravate the student into reaching out and trying to grab her by the shoulder. His hand was intercepted by Jaune's. "I think it is time for you to go somewhere else," Jaune said his voice almost a growl and the threat in it quite clear.

"And if I don't" the man responded. Shaking his hand from Jaune's grip. The response was most likely meant to be an attempt at intimidating Jaune who was about 90 pounds lighter than this beast of a man.

The attempt failed miserably. This was made evident when Jaune looked him dead in the eye and answered. "Then I may have to beat the Hell out of you".

Now the big man smiled, he clearly thought that he had some kind of advantage. " I know all about you and your trigger happy nature, but I don't think that you got the stones to fight me without your fancy gun."

Jaune recognized that this brute was baiting him so he just turned around and attempted to leave the room, he and Suzanna could go out to eat. After all his father's safehouse still had a moderate health supply of lien. And he knew a very good bakery where he was always welcome.

"Oh, that's right. You prefer to ambush Faunus protesters, don't you? What is the matter, am I trained to fight, does that make me too much of a threat for a coward like you."

The brute had turned from threats to insults. Jaune planned to just walk away. He had experienced this kind of harassment before and he had walked away then, he would walk away now.

"Turn around and face me you coward!" the student called at Jaune's turned back. The student gave off a proud grunt and then said. "At least your disgusting father had the common decency to kill himself and stop populating the world with filth like you."

At that Jaune stopped for a moment his hand still intertwined with Suzanna's he turned his head to look at the student. "You know, that almost worked" as Jaune spoke he tried once more to lead Suzanna away from the metaphorical powder keg.

His attempts were in vain however as Suzanna now turned to face the student. Jaune may have had a long fused on his temper but Suzanna didn't. "And just what is your problem, what did Jaune do to you?"

Before the big man could answer Jaune answered for him. "He blames me for the death of his team leader's sister and her unborn child." after a long pause Jaune continued. "And he should, if I had done my job then she would still be alive." his voice was filled with shame as he continued. "I made a mistake a stupid careless mistake and I got her killed, gunned down by my enemies."

The amount of shame on Jaune's face gave Suzanna an uneasy feeling. She didn't want to believe this but if what Jaune was saying and if what she was feeling in the force was true then Jaune truly believed himself guilty of causing the deaths this woman and her child, there was just so much guilt flowing off of Jaune that she couldn't stop herself from taking on the pain he was giving off. Recognizing that she was going to overload and that she could do a lot of harm if that happened she turned and ran as fast as she could. She thought she heard Jaune call her name and she almost stopped. But then a second wave of dark feelings washed over her and she had to run.

Jaune watched Suzanna run away as he felt his heart crumble like old stone. With his back still turned to the student who was harassing him he said in a voice as cold as ice and hard as steel. "Well, you got what you wanted. The only question is… are you going to live long enough to enjoy it.?" once he finished speaking Jaune heard the sound of the large man drawing the sword from his back. Turning and lashing out with both his body and his mind. The anger gave him strength, power, and it focused him. He threw an overhand left that landed directly on the man's floating rib. It would normally have had almost no effect on the larger man but now it was backed by the fury of the dark side and months of sleepless nights venting.

The strike landed clean and Jaune felt the rib crack. It was like the man's aura hadn't activated and he was thrown across the room and throw a wall leading to the kitchen. The only reason for that would be that he thought he wouldn't need his aura and only drew on it after he was in the air on his way to the wall. But such things were far from Jaune's mind. He was swimming, no he was drowning in his own misery. First, a painful memory was dredged up, and then Suzanna has left him. And there was really only one reason for that. She heard about what he had done and she couldn't even stand to be near him. Jaune had just gotten her back, and now this jackass with a grudge had taken her from him again. And Jaune was going to beat him to death for it.

Closing in on the student Jaune let out a guttural growl and said. "If you know what happened then you should know what I do to those whom I deem my enemies. Tell me." as he spoke he lifted the barely conscious student up from the rubble of the wall. "Is there anything you want me to tell you teammates for you? To explain why you went and got yourself killed that is". As he asked Jaune held up his hand which now held a knife from one of the tables. He was bringing the knife down to pierce the student's skull when a large and strong hand gripped his wrist. The hold seemed to be made out of iron and wouldn't be defeated.

"I am only going to say this once Jaune," as he spoke Jorge turned the enraged teen to face him. "You get a grip on yourself or I WILL HOSPITALIZE YOU!" the end of the sentence rose into a command and it was obvious that Jorge wasn't bluffing.

Once his hand was released by Jorge Jaune lashed out again. This time at Jorge. He tried to plunge the knife into Jorge's chest but the older warrior quickly took a step back just outside of Jaune's reach. This forced Jaune to try again but this time it was more telegraphed. It was an old trick Jorge had learned back when he was running around the streets of Dromund Kaas. after attempting a stab most fighters need to draw the blade back in order to try again. It was of less use now, but it was still a good edge to have.

The telegraphed stab was easily parried by Jorge who used the braces he built into his coat. Then he grabbed Jaune's hand with his right and lift the teen's arm leaving him open for a brutal left-handed body hook. After the punch landed Jaune was staggered three steps back. "I just broke three of your ribs Jaune, last warning".

Again Jaune regained his footing and swing the blade in slashing pattern going from just over his left shoulder down to his right hip. Jorge, in turn, flicked his wrist and one of the chairs nearby hurtled through the air and struck Jaune in the right shin. While he was still off balance Jorge lunged forward and wrapped his left arm around the Jaune's right wrist. And the other arm wrapped around Jaune's left arm in an underhook as he stepped into the boy. Then in one savage move, Jorge spun his hips and swept with his leg.

The modified Hane Goshi knocked the wind out of Jaune. Jorge followed the throw up with four precise strikes an elbow to the head, and elbow to the same ribs that Jorge broke. There was a kick landed on Jaune's right shoulder and finally, an elbow to the jaw knocked Jaune unconscious.

Looking down at the boy Jorge used the force to lift him without causing any more injury and carried him to the infirmary. "I tried to warn you," he said to the boy as floated him away. He briefly stopped and looked at the other student who Jaune had been trying to kill. "Mr. Diachi, I have to advise against taking similar actions in the future. The man you fought today was not Jaune but a manifestation of the man I used to be. And next time I won't stop him BEFORE he kills you."

with that Jorge brought Jaune to the infirmary and called Suzanna. It was her that called him and told him what was happening. And was probably the only reason that the other student was still alive. He told her to stay where she was and that he would find her soon. They had much to discuss.


	8. Chapter 8

Yang made it to the infirmary at about the same time that Jorge was leaving. She made a fact of shooting him a glare fit to kill the living and wake the dead but ultimately she had bigger concerns than being mad at him.  
When she opened the door there he was. Jaune was laying on a bed with a cast around his chest, a bandage on his head, and his right arm in a sling. Without thinking she walked over to the side of his bed and took up her usual spot holding his left hand. She sat there and just listened to the sound of his heart monitor's regular beeping. She thought it was strange how such an annoying sound could be bringing her comfort right now but it was. It was steady and rhythmic. So here she sat and waited. She Jaune would be fine. He would wake up in a few hours and when he did she would be there. Which was good because she needed some answers.

…

Jorge found Suzanna sitting at a dinner that he knew. he walked over to her and said. "Thank you for calling me, I want you to know that I am proud of you for recognizing that you were getting ready to lose it and you got out before you did." as he spoke he pulled a chair over to the table she was sitting at. He looked around saw the man how was seemingly running the place. He raised his hand and said. "Hey slick, how did this girl find this place?"

The man at the counter let out a laugh and said. "I found HER, she was wandering the streets and I saw her. And you don't forget the sight of a lost force sensitive. They have a particular expression on there face. So I brought her in and sat her down. I figured you would be around."

Jorge looked back to Suzanna when she began to speak. "Where is Jaune, is he okay?"

He looked at her for a moment and used the force to bring two coffee cups over to the table. "I can't tell you how much I missed being able to freely use the force. Unless I am at Slick's dinner here I can't really use it without scaring people. I mean sure I can use it subtly but it just isn't the same."

Having grown tired of Jorge trying to avoid the question Suzanna asked once more. Only this time she tilted her head slightly to the right and forward. "Is Jaune okay?"

Understanding that she wanted a straightforward answer Jorge chose to give her one. "He will wake up in few hours and be sore for a day or two but other than that he is alright."

Suzanna gave him a foul looking glare and growled. "What did you do?"

The answer that Jorge gave was clearly rehearsed as he was preparing to give it to several people. "Jaune was deep in the throes of the dark side, he was going to kill the student he blamed for his pain. When I tried to stop him he attacked me. As a result, I had to resort to more primitive but none the less effective tactics for getting through to him. Don't worry his aura will heal all of the injuries soon. But that does bring me back to my main point of talking to you."

Suzanna nodded and said. "And that would be?"

Jorge smiled and said "you are his anchor, without you, he has very little emotional control. That was why as long as you were there he was relatively fine, but after you left. Which I stress you SHOULD have done. He lost all control. And he lashed out at the nearest thing. Now I have already fixed that but I still need you to stay near him for a day or two just in case. After that what you want to do is completely up to you. I can only say this, if you are serious about him then you may need to watch out for the blonde you saw earlier. Jaune doesn't know it yet but she has begun to develop feelings for him." soon after he finished speaking Jorge rose to his feet. "Now," he said. "This conversation has been enough of a strain as it is I need to leave before I try to kill you."

With that, he left her sitting there alone. Soon after he had left Suzanna realized that she had ever gotten him to tell her where Jaune was. When she went to leave she saw a napkin which had been written on It said.

Go to the bullhead station then look for the 785 bird, the pilot is expecting you. He will take you to Beacon and then you need to go to the infirmary on the second floor, room 005  
-Jorge.

After reading the note she began her trek back to Beacon.

…

Suzanna had just made her way to the infirmary she saw the Blonde girl from earlier sleeping at the side of Jaune's bed. And she seemed to be holding his hand close to her chest. "Uhm, just who might you be?"

The girl seemed to awaken and turn to look at her with bloodshot eyes and a weary facade she said. "I am his teammate, who are you?"

This was the moment that would decide who was here when Jaune woke up. And Suzanna knew it. Normally she would have been far more eloquent but this statement could not afford to be misunderstood. " I am his girlfriend, thank you for keeping an eye on him but you can go now. I will take care of this." Suzanna had hoped that she tempered the bluntness of her initial statement with the way she phrased the second. She was wrong.

"I don't know who the hell said you were his girlfriend but that isn't even important, you aren't a student. You have no right to be here. So get out." as she spoke she rose up and her hair began to turn a slightly brighter orange.

Suzanna may not have been formally combat trained but she was a Telmarvak and that gave her a certain level of instinctive danger. even now she recognized that the blonde before he was going to keep escalating. As such she had started to turn her back to a wall and build up force energy in her hands. She wasn't certain what she was doing but it felt natural so she went with it.

The now angry blonde took another step forward and said. "I mean it, you need to leave, now!"

this time the words were a challenge. And they were a challenge Suzanna had to answer. "And if I don't?" the threat in her voice was quite clear as she spoke. She was trying to get the blonde to step out of line and do something that she shouldn't.

Yang could feel her vision beginning to grey out. The only thing she could see now was Suzanna. Her anger was taking over but she didn't care. This arrogant, bitchy, whore had to speak with the creator. And Yang was more than happy to facilitate the meeting. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP… Yang was pulled from her tunnel vision by the sound of Jaune's heart monitor. The steady beeping seemed to exude a calming effect on her. Closing her eye's Yang took a moment and thought. And she realized that if she got into a fight in this room then she was likely to end up hurt Jaune even more, and she didn't want that.

Taking a deep breathe Yang cleared her mind of anger and walked over to the side of Jaune bed once more. Reaching down she pressed a button on Jaune bed and soon a nurse appeared in the doorway. "Is something wrong?" she asked, she took one look at Jaune and decided that he couldn't have pressed the button then she looked at and Yang and asked again. "Is there a problem?"

Yang calmly answered the nurse and said, yes we have a un-authorized intruder in here, I believe you may need to alert Miss. Goodwitch."

The nurse looked at Suzanna and said. "She looks like a student, and how could she get here if she wasn't, I am sorry but I am not going to bother Miss. Goodwitch for one of your childish pranks."

Yang looked annoyed but tried to find a non-violent way to solve her problem. Reaching for the phone in the room she asked. "Then what do I need to dial to get her here.?"

Once again the nurse looked at Yang with a tired face. "I can't tell you that, it is against policy"

Turning once more to leave she was interrupted by the sound of Yang loudly clearing her throat. When the nurse looked at her she saw that Yang had her scroll out and was pointing it at a spot on the floor near the window. "Now listen," Yang said. "Either you go get Miss. Goodwitch or I will call my locker to land about a foot inside of this room. Either way, she will end up here."

Now the nurse had to go get Glynda after all, a student was threatening to damage school property. If this was a prank then Glynda could sort it out. "Very well then," she said as she left the room.

Content that this whole mess would soon be sorted out Yang sat back down where was and glared at Suzanna.

Glynda was on her way her room to take an important call when she was paged by the infirmary. Apparently, there was a student who was threatening to crash locker through a wall if she didn't show up. She didn't have to ask for the room number as she knew that only a handful of teams had members who would make such a threat. And only one of them had a member in the infirmary. As such, she knew to head to, whatever room Jaune Arc was staying in.

As she approached she saw that the senior nurse standing outside of room 005. It was often referred to as Mr. Arc's second bedroom due to his propensity to get injured for his teammates. Normally he would just get looked at and told to take it easy for a few days. He never did but Glynda wasn't going to tell him to stop, he knew his limits.

before she had even entered the room she began to speak. "Miss Xiao Long. I sincerely hope you have a VERY good reason for threatening to destroy a part of my school."

Looking at Glynda she answered. "Miss Goodwitch this girl isn't a student and has no reason to be here, she needs to leave!"

Glynda chose to overlook the commanding tone that Yang had just taken with her instead she turned her attention to the teen that Yang had been staring at. "Well young lady," Glynda asked. "Are you a student?"

After a long pause, she said. "I am here under orders of Jorge Telmarvak," as she spoke she walked over to the side of Jaune's bed that Yang wasn't sitting at and continued. "For the time being Jaune is very unstable and I am the one who can stabilize him. Unless you want to have a repeat of what happened in the cafeteria you need to keep me near him."

Glynda was very aware of what happened in the cafeteria. Yatsuhashi of team CFVY had gotten into a very one-sided fight with Jaune and then Jorge showed up and put Jaune in the hospital. Honestly, Glynda was going to expel Jaune for trying to kill another student and was going to have Jorge arrested but Ozpin explained that she couldn't do either because Both Jorge and Jaune apparently have full diplomatic immunity. He had said that if anyone can be punished it would be Yatsuhashi for his harassment of Mr. Arc.

it was because of all of these actions that Glynda decided that it was best if everyone was let off with no punishment as everyone who acted in the wrong was dealt with. Yatsuhashi was almost killed, Jaune was severely beaten, and contrary to common belief Jorge didn't like hurting children. So Glynda had to let it go and move on, but if this child thought that just because she said Jorge sent meant that she had a right to be here then she was mistaken. With a serious tone, Glynda said " I am afraid that you have no right to be here at this time. Miss"

"Telmarvak," she paused for a moment to allow what she had said to sink in. "my name is Suzanna Telmarvak," she repeated.

By the look on her face, she clearly thought that her name would be enough to dissuade Glynda. Once again she was mistaken. "Young lady, I don't care what your name is. You have no business in this school and therefore must leave." as she spoke Glynda allowed her voice to harden to convey that this wasn't a request it was a demand. She also allowed her hand to drift to her riding crop. If this girl was a Telmarvak then she was most likely extremely dangerous and may need to be removed with force.

Suzanna looked at Glynda's hand and felt her own body begin to prepare for a fight. But this time it was different. Instead of getting her back to the wall and preparing to attack she felt herself be drawn over to the window, it was almost as though her instincts were telling her to run instead of fight this woman.

The tension in the room was about to explode when Jorge poked his head in and said, "hey Glyn, I got a thing you need to see."

When she read the sheet of paper in Jorge's hand Glynda's countenance grew frustrated. "It seems that Miss Telmarvak is now a student effective immediately. She however still has no right to be in this room as she is not on Mr. Arc's team."

Suzanna looked to Jorge and waited for him to say something. Which after a moment he did. "It may be for the best for the two of you to spend some time apart. It would help him grow his control in a relatively safe environment."

With that Jorge left, and Suzanna recognizing that she no longer had any footing to stay here reluctantly chose to leave.

Glancing down at her watch Glynda looked to Yang and said. "Miss Xiao Long, visiting hours are over I believe you should head back to your dorm. In fact, I will walk with you."

…

They walked in silence until the reached team RWBY's dorm. Then Glynda pressed a button on her scroll which she had been tying on the entire walk there. Once Yang entered her room her scroll buzzed. When she checked her scroll it displayed that she had an email from an unknown source. When she opened the email it seemed to be two downloadable files. One labeled. Infirmary security cameras. And the other read. Beacon silent master key. In the description of the email was a message that read, "if you can't get in with these then you don't deserve to."

It took Yang a moment to understand what this was. Glynda had sent her a program to see the infirmary cameras as well as a silent master key. The silent master key was rarely used but it was so that either Glynda or Ozpin could enter a students room without anyone hearing about it or being notified, it also isolated the electro lock and kept it from logging the entry, with these Yang could sneak her way into the infirmary and then get into Jaune's room without anyone noticing. Grinning Yang excused herself and started towards the infirmary if her teammates noticed that she went in the opposite direction of the bathroom they didn't say anything.


	9. Chapter 9

Yang stood at the doors to the infirmary for a moment, if anyone asked her she would say it was because she thinking about whether or she really wanted to do this. After all, if she was caught in the infirmary after hours then she could be charged with some very serious this and may even be expelled.

That is what she would have said to anyone who asked her. In all reality, she was trying to understand why she hadn't hesitated at all when she reached the door. Sure Jaune was her friend. Maybe even her best friend, after all, she had never gotten into a bar fight with anyone else. shaking off those thoughts Yang got back to the matter at hand. Opening the doors to the infirmary Yang looked down at her scroll to see where the orderly was. He making the rounds and was at the end of his route.

Making her way over to a cart and taking up a position behind it she kept one eye on her scroll and the other one on the corner the orderly would be walking around. She took a moment to think and then she hid entirely. She couldn't see herself on the cameras and she didn't want to risk being seen by the orderly.

After the orderly finished his route and began again she snuck her way towards Jaune's room. She stayed about ten feet behind the orderly. This way she didn't waste time and still kept a safe distance from orderly.

When she reached Jaune's room she was about to go in when she heard a voice. It was Suzanna. "Don't try to move that arm, I can lay on your the other side." that got Yang's attention. She was laying down with him… but only Yang did that. And she was talking about his injured shoulder and ribs. That meant that she was on Jaune's left side which is where she usually stayed.

Yang felt sick to her stomach, who did this bitch think she was. Jaune was Yang's friend, not her's. Just as she was about to enter the room and throw the Heffer out she heard Jaune groan in pain and she froze. Had she just Hurt him. Now Yang was getting ready to not just throw her out but to kill her too. Thinking fast Yang grabbed the nearest weapon she could she grabbed a desk phone and ripped the cord out of it. Wrapping the cord around her hands a few times she gave her makeshift garrote a few tugs to test its strength. When she was satisfied she walked back to the room and then froze again when she had touched the door. She could see them through the small window and they were so peaceful.

Suzanna had curled up next to Jaune's left side and had her left arm on his chest. Neither of them saw her and she swiftly ducked down below the window again. "You don't need to stay here." Jaune's words gave Yang a brief shot of fear, had he seen her.

"I do, not only that I want to be here with you." Suzanna's answer told Yang that Jaune hadn't seen her but She had little time to think about that.

Jaune's next words were spoken in a calm and honest fashion, leaving no room to argue their legitimacy. "Suzanna, I love you."

In the blink of an eye, Yang felt a sledgehammer crash into her chest, through her heart and lodge itself in her soul. She didn't really remember when she started to cry or when she curled into a ball. Her silent sobs rocking her vision more than the hardest hit she ever took in training.

She laid there until a gentle hand grasped her shoulder. Looking up she saw the orderly kneeling over her. She knew she should be afraid of what was going to happen but she couldn't feel it. She did feel him taking the cord from her hands and putting it back on the phone it belonged to. Then she felt him pull her to her feet. He was going to take her to an empty room to avoid disturbing any other residence and then he would call for a teacher.

Yang wasn't certain when she left the infirmary or why the orderly was helping her do so. As they reached a door she looked up and saw that it was her dorm room. The orderly reached up and rapped his knuckles on the door. Weiss answered it and saw the orderly supporting Yang who was slight amount taller than. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

the threat was obvious so the orderly simply shrugged and said. "My name is Chad and I am repaying a favor that I owe to my friend." With that, he left back for the infirmary.

Weiss guided Yang back into the room and sat her down in a chair. "What happened, where did you go." Yang began to retell her journey to them and found the tears coming stronger as she reached the end.

Her mounting pain and frustration finally breaching her limit she yelled. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE HELL DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH".

She was answered with silence for several seconds before a small voice said. "Because you're in love with him." Yang turned to see Ruby walking towards her. Once she reached the chair she reached her arms around Yang and pulled her sister into a hug saying. "I know what you are feeling, you lost someone you loved and now you don't know what do. You're in pain and you want to be mad, mad at the world, mad at him, and in the end mad at yourself."

the words of mature wisdom from an unlikely source brought Yang back to the operation just a month ago. The operation where Bud was killed. It was no secret that Bud and Ruby were in love. As cliche as it may have sounded, it was almost loved at first sight, right down to the way he spoke to and handled Crescent Rose. they were in love and it could have gone anywhere. But he went out with Jaune, Luke, Ren, and Nora to raid the White Fang safe house that tried to have Weiss killed and Blake framed for it.

Ruby had gone after them even though she was told not to. And then Bud had to be sent to get her out. It was then that Bud had told her that he loved her and it was shortly after that when a White Fang sniper killed bud, it had been found out that the shooter was most likely not a White Fang member and rather a hired killer since the gun used was a stolen Atlesian prototype weapon meant to breach armour. As such it made short work of Bud's body armor and then Bud's body.

Looking up she saw Ruby had tears in her eyes and she wrapped her baby sister in her arms and held her. After all, they were both hurting so it made sense. Looking at the alarm clock Yang saw that it was getting late and carried Ruby to her bed and after she had gotten Ruby in bed she tried to leave but Ruby wouldn't let go.

Understanding what Ruby meant Yang stayed with her for the night. And after Ruby had fallen asleep Yang allowed her thoughts to drift to a memory that only further supported Ruby's claim that she was in love with Jaune.

It was during the time they spent It was back during the time when team rockslide was staying with the Arc's for Christmas. After Jaune had tried to kill Jorge when he found Jorge was sleeping with mother Jorge gave Jaune a case of what looked to be whiskey. The actual drunkenness never seemed to hit Jaune. Though Jorge explained that the effects might be more pronounced if the whiskey weren't made by Jaune's own father.

The "curse" Jorge said that Jaune suffered from and that he apparently got from his father. Was that when Jorge got any kind of alcohol that was made by someone he could use something called " Sadin" to slightly alter the chemistry and change the taste. But in the case of Romerean and apparently Jaune. When they drank such spirits they also took on traits similar to the personality of the maker.

This brew of whiskey was made by Jaune's father. And the traits that it bestowed upon him were barely noticeable causing Jorge to make a joke about how Jaune and Romerean were basically the same people, well there was one difference. Romerean was apparently easily manipulated. Yang had gotten him to spar with her twice a day during the week. That being said Romerean was a much meaner fighter than Jaune.

Jaune fought fair, Romerean kicked fair fights in the teeth. He was all for the cheap shots. He once got back clinch and then threw a couple kidney shots. The pain this caused Yang allowed him to perform a talented belly to back suplex. Then he back mount and caught her in an armbar. In all honesty, Yang was relieved to have Jaune try to fight her. Even if it came at the price of Jaune fighting a little meaner than usual.

This also lead to the two of them being rather exhausted at the end of the day. And this might have been a good thing as it would have been easier to convince him to be willing to sleep in a bed. But it seems that Romerean was even more stubborn than Jaune when it came to modesty. Ultimately Yang just gave up on getting him sleep in a bed at night and followed him wherever he went through the night. This lead to many times when she would find him and Jorge sitting on the front porch talking about the battles they had seen.

One night she found Jaune sitting out on the porch with a cup of coffee. Yang decided that she wouldn't let him sit there all alone so she made herself a cup of tea and walked out onto the porch. She soon learned the error of her logic when she realized just how cold it was. Her t-shirt and shorts were wholly inadequate. But that gave her an Idea to get him to come inside.

"What brings you out here at this time of night" Jaune said from his place in the rightmost chair.

Yang sat in the chair just to his and said. "I have this friend who does stupid stuff like sitting out on the front porch when it is too damn cold to do so. I guess I was just worried about him."

Jaune nodded he seemed to understand her point. "Well, I know this friend of yours. He is a pretty resilient guy. I think he can take care of himself, you, on the other hand, coming out here in a pair of short shorts and a light t-shirt. Well, you may want to go inside and warm up."

Recognizing a chance to get him inside Yang continued. "Well, I could be persuaded to do that If I was kept company."

her request was clear and after a moment Jaune answered. "I wouldn't be opposed to that but I need to take care of something first." with a simple gesture of his arm he motioned to the C.A.S.A.C.O.M. leaning against the wall of the house between the two chairs.

Now Yang was concerned. "Is there something I should be aware of?" as she spoke Yang panned her view across the dark field before her looking for a threat. She found none but she kept looking.

"No," Jaune said as he again looked out only this time his gaze seemed to lock on something. "I need you to stay here. If I don't come back in three minutes wake up Jorge." as he spoke Jaune rose to his feet and turned to walk off of the porch. Stopping he turned and gestured to his rifle and asked Yang. "do you know how to use that?"

Yang nodded a no and said, " I have no idea how it works."

Jaune reached across the front of Yang and grabbed his rifle holding it up in front of her. He began pointing to buttons and switches as he named all of them. "Magazine release, bolt release, and this is the safety. This is the charging handle and just don't press these buttons." after he spoke for a moment he asked her. "Do you even know how to shoot a rifle.?"

With a slightly embarrassed smile, Yang said, "no, not really"

No Jaune paused again and said. "Then let's get you inside," with his hands on her arms he gently stood Yang up and they walked inside of the house. He led her to the bedroom where team RWBY was staying. Once he got her inside he tried to get her into the bed while also getting her to let go of him. She wouldn't and he was getting annoyed. Why didn't she get it? He was her team leader he couldn't do anything that may be seen as favoritism and since he most definitely was not sharing a bed with the rest of his teams he couldn't do it with her. "Yang release me."

Her response was swift and resolute. "No" Jaune was going to argue with her when she continued. " I am not letting go of you because I have no way of knowing if you are going to try to go back out there. So no I am not going to let you go. If you won't sleep in the bed then you can sit next to it.

After a moment Jaune seemed to think and then with a tired face said. "Damn it this isn't going to end well." and with that, he climbed into the bed next to Yang. as she quickly laid her head on his chest and wrapped an arm around him to keep him from moving she allowed herself to be slowly lulled to sleep by the sound of Jaune's heartbeat. Among her final thoughts before slipping into sleep was that she could stay here for an eternity. At that moment she was content.

…

Team RWBY sat in silence as Yang sobbed with her little sister. It was wrong and she knew it, she shouldn't have gotten attached to him. He seemed like such a nice person. He cared about his team. He loved his family. He was a good man. It all seemed too perfect, so in the end, it was. The one time she had really attached to someone after summer died and he broke her heart.

The silence was interrupted by a knocking at the door this time it was Blake who answered the door. She stood in shock for a moment and then asked the person standing there. "Shouldn't you still be in the infirmary?"

The was a dry laugh from a familiar voice as Jaune said. "Maybe but Chad just told me that one of my teammates was crying in the hall so I came to see what the problem was." as he stepped into the room Jaune saw that Yang was crying and Weiss and Ruby were glaring at him.

"What are you doing here?" Weiss snarled her voice little more than a hiss.

With a confused look on his face, Jaune answered. "I came here to find out why one of my teammates was found crying in the hallway. I just said that."

Realizing that Jaune was right and that she in her haste just asked a pointless question Weiss slightly lowered her head and stepped farther between Jaune and Yang. Jaune, in turn, walked around her and reached out to put his hand on Yang's shoulder. "Yang, what hap…"

Jaune never finished his sentence as Yang burst into flame and lashed her arm out at him. He didn't have time to raise his aura so his skin burnt at the touch and he lurched back to avoid further damage. In his lunge, he accidentally slammed his right arm against one of the dressers and the pain that flooded his body brought him to his knees.

With a growl, he rose to his feet turning towards the girls of team RWBY he felt his blood begin to boil with the same rage he experienced when he fought with Yatsuhashi. Recognizing that he couldn't risk hurting any of them Jaune closed his eyes and focused very hard on the thought of Suzanna waiting for him when he returned. The peace he felt wash over him quickly subdued the dark fury he felt a moment before.

Upon opening his eyes Jaune saw that team RWBY was now staring at him with fear on their faces. They had no doubt felt the emotions running off of him and were afraid of what was to come. Looking once more at them Jaune said in a stern voice. "Clearly you aren't that hurt otherwise you wouldn't be so violent." with that he left the room.

As soon as he left the room Yang began to cry once more. Her words where almost indecipherable but it was clear she felt bad for hurt Jaune when he was just trying to help. She kept on crying for several minutes and Ruby was getting ready to call her dad. It was true that he father would most likely try to kill Jaune but at least he could get Yang to stop crying. As soon as Ruby's hand reached her scroll the door opened once more.

"Okay chitlins tell momma Arc what is wrong." standing in the door was Isabao. She had a bag with her and she made her way over to the bed where Yang was. As she sat down she slowly wrapped an arm around the hysterical teen and repeated her question. "Yang sweetie tell me what is wrong."

All at once Yang lunged forwards and latched her arms around the momma Arc. "I think I am in love with Jaune but I am too fucking late!"

As Yang cried into her shoulder Isabao with one hand rubbed Yang's back between her shoulder blades and with the other hand she reached into her bag and pulled out a box with the word Ghirardelli written on it. "Jorge brings these, I don't know where they come from but they are my favorite. Especially for these types of problems." opening the box she withdrew a small chocolate and handed it to Yang who promptly made it disappear. Handing the box to Yang Isabao reached back into her bag and this time withdrew a hairbrush.

As she brushed out Yang's hair Yang seemed to calm down. Soon the teen was peacefully asleep with her head on Isabao's lap. Gently extracting herself from beneath the sleeping girl she left the room and softly closed the door behind her. "Okay, I know what happened. Jorge already told me everything."

As she spoke Isabao heard Ruby jump. Apparently, the half-pint sized reaper hadn't expected for Isabao to know that she had left the room too. "Well do you know who is to blame for this Suzanna girl being here?" the anger in Ruby's voice was clear. As was the threat to whoever it was that was to blame.

Isabao's voice was filled with authority. "Young lady it would very foolish to try and kill Orin. yes, he brought back Suzanna but he is someone you still shouldn't try to kill, no matter what he did." as she spoke she turned and walked her way to the infirmary. After all her son was injured so she wanted to check on him.

She found him and Suzanna laying together in his infirmary bed. "Well, you've been indecisive this year." hearing her speak Jaune and Suzanna turned to her.

With confusion on his face, Jaune asked: "what do you mean?"

With a coy expression, Isabao continued. "Well, about six months ago you were in the exact same position with a different woman."

as she said this she pulled out her scroll and put the photo Yang sleeping with Jaune after he was injured in the diner robbery. "The friend she made less than a day ago just jumped on a live hand grenade. I think she is allowed to worry"

Once he finished Suzanna was speaking. "You did WHAT!"

Jaune looked at her and answered. "I was fine, but she didn't know that

"Oh, and this" again Isabao held out her scroll with the photo from the next day after he had been shot protecting Ruby.

"I was shot protecting her baby sister. Again she is allowed to worry." Jaune argued back

"Well, what about this." once more Isabao held out her scroll. This time her screen showed Jaune and Yang were huddled together on the couch over Christmas break.

After a moment of thought Jaune raised his hands in a mild show of defeat"Okay, I have no real answer for that. I think she was just feeling affectionate."

Isabao shrugged and said. "If you say so." she knew that Jaune believed what he said. He was as emotionally blind as his father. But it was best if she told Suzanna just what she was up against.

With that, she left to deal with Ruby and her no doubt extreme anger issues.

…

after a moment of thought, Suzanna looked at Jaune and said. "I want you to shave."

Bringing his hand to his mustache and goatee and asked. "Why, I like my facial hair."

"Well, I just can't see you with it. It is too different." the reply that Suzanna gave was a good enough reason but it wasn't the true one. If the goatee and mustache had been things that this Yang girl seemed to like then she wanted then gone. It was a signal. A way of marking what she felt was her's in a way that wouldn't raise too much suspicion. Suzanna wasn't giving Jaune up without one hell of a fight.


	10. Chapter 10

Luke had been keeping a very close eye on Pyrrha ever since they released her from the hospital. He would have been protective of her if she had just been injured but she was also carrying his second child and that brought a whole new level of protection down on her. Luke had almost broken a students nose when he made a snide comment about Pyrrha getting pregnant in her first year at Beacon. Almost being the keyword. Luke never got the chance to get ahold of the boy as Ren had placed a hand on his shoulder and told him to go back to Pyrrha. When Luke left Ren was slowly walking towards the boy and the boy's face was growing more scared with every step the calm man took towards. "I think we need to have a talk." was the last thing that Luke had heard. From the resident monk.

There was also a fair share of people who were not happy with him. After all, he was a twenty-year-old man in a school full of teenagers. There were plenty of people that wanted to kill him just for being in love with Pyrrha let alone have a child and marrying her. The part that many people seemed to fail to understand was that Luke was just barely twenty and Pyrrha was on the high end of seventeen. All in all, they were only one and ten/twelfths of a calendar years apart. But Luke still got harassed for it. He didn't mind if the price of loving Pyrrha was being treated poorly by a few arrogant pricks and the Nikos fanboys who hated him for taking her "off the market" as they would say. (just not in front of him) then he would pay that price with enthusiasm.

This particular encounter was going to get ugly fast. It was Hinkel Johnson. He was on Luke's radar less than a day after he became Pyrrha's partner. Once he found out his partner was a celebrity. (a fact lost on him due to his nomadic lifestyle.) he found about Johnson. He was a borderline stalker. And that was the scary part. It was quite clear that he was obsessed but he seemed to know how to fly just below the line. That meant he was smart AND crazy. When Luke found out that Johnson had applied to Beacon and had been accepted he was worried. The immediate fear was that he may try to harm Pyrrha. And since Luke had placed himself in Pyrrha's life he was now a target too.

At the moment Johnson was walking towards the table where RWBY and PLNR were currently eating dinner. He stopped at the edge between Weiss and Ruby. He was looking at Luke who was sitting at the end on the other side of the table. He stood there and just stared at Luke for a time.

"Can I help you?" came Luke's question. The request was clear and filled with authority.

No sooner had it been issued had Johnson reached into his pocket and pulled out a small snub nosed revolver and moved to level it at Luke. it was Weiss who acted first and tried to disarm the maniac.

Weiss grabbed the man's wrist and pushed up sending his first shot high and wide to the right. The next shot was fired just above Weiss's head and the cylinder gap sprayed her face with hot gas and deafened her causing her to flinch. The momentary gap in her focus this provided gave Johnson the time he needed to bring his left hand up and break her grip on his wrists. Then he slammed his left elbow into her throat. If he had hit her any harder he may have collapsed her trachea. She fell to her seat and looked up and saw the muzzle lined up with her eye. She held her breath and waited.

In the blink of an eye, Luke acted. He had already been moving but now he had leaped up on the table. In one swift move, Luke buried one of the metal chopsticks he was eating within the man's left carotid artery. The other was buried in the back of his neck.

Weiss felt a hot liquid spray across her face and then she watched Luke yank the struggling man onto the table. She saw him slam the chopsticks into the man's throat three more times. Soon the man's thrashing ceased and he lay limp on the table. When she touched her face and pulled it away she saw the red blood of the body now laying on the table. She felt sick to her stomach. The combination of almost dying and seeing someone killed in such a brutal fashion resulted in her vomiting on the floor. Soon she had a hand on her left shoulder that belonged to a third-year student and a hand rubbing her back from Ruby.

Luke got Pyrrha to the infirmary to get her vitals monitored for any signs of stress-induced complications. She was crying all of the ways to the room because she blamed herself for the actions of Johnson. Once she was stabilized Luke went to the room next door and found Weiss sitting on the bed and cleaning her face. He grabbed a towel and helped to clean her up. 'Why did you do that? You could've been killed. I had it handled" Luke asked his voice speeding up. He was ashamed that she almost died trying to help him.

"You are on my sister team and above that, you are my friend. I know we didn't get along very well at first but now that I've seen the man you really are I could lay down my life for you because you are one of my friends." As Weiss spoke she looked into Luke's eyes with a face that showed how serious she was. It was just a few months ago she was afraid he would poison or drug her and now she was willing to die to protect him. She saw Luke drop the towel in the sink and head for the door. "Where are you going?" Weiss asked upon noticing that Luke was heading in the other direction from Pyrrha.

Looking at her Luke answered. " I need to find out who in the Hell let that sick Fuck into this school."

After the bloody mess at dinner, the teams were all relatively silent. RWBY had spent a few minutes hugging Weiss. They were all worried about losing her. (even Blake). Afterward, they all just sat in silence. They had no idea how to continue after what had just happened. Should they feel bad about the fact that Luke killed a guy? Or should they be relieved that they were all safe? Yang was preparing a bad pun about how dinner was "to die for". She knew it could set off the emotional time bomb that her team currently was. There would be lots of tears and eventually laughter. But she would take the anger of Weiss blake and her sister if it kept her team from shutting down.

She took a breath and opened her mouth to speak when there was a furious knocking at the door. Walking to the door and opening it Yang saw Fox from team CFVY standing outside their door. He looked like he had been running recently and when Yang looked at him he said. "Someone is kicking the shit out of your team leader. You may want to see this."

Afraid that it was Jorge again all of team RWBY rushed across the hall and told team PLNR. of them only Nora and Ren came since Luke and Pyrrha were still in the infirmary. When they made their way to the training room they were shocked to see Jaune and Suzanna fighting. It looks surprisingly balanced which was impressive because they had all seen Jaune destroy Yang in a fair fight.

They watched as Suzanna threw three quick jabs and then a lower lead inside leg kick with her heel to set Jaune off she had achieved that she launched herself as Jaune and planted her right foot on his left hip and her left foot on the side of his neck. Leaning back she dragged them both to the ground and she rolled to the top and locked Jaune in an elevated kimura lock.

Jaune was in trouble. His shoulder was about forty-five degrees of rotation away from dislocating. And that leads to his second problem. If he wanted to tap out and avoid injury there was only one thing he could reach, her ass. Which was also placed precariously in his line of sight. (not that he noticed of course). He had to decide between tapping Suzanna butt or getting his shoulder dislocated. It was a challenging question. And he was running out of time. He had about ten more degrees before his shoulder popped. Then in one sudden and final choice, he closed his eyes and made his choice.

Yang was annoyed, and also pleased Jaune was about to let Suzanna dislocate his shoulder. And that annoyed her. But he was also refusing to cop a feel when he would have been justified in doing so. And that was good it meant that she may still have a chance.

POP Jaune shoulder finally gave way with a sickening popping sound. And once she heard it Suzanna instantly switched gears from being Jaune opponent to being his girlfriend. She rolled him over and tried to lay his head on her lap with his good shoulder on the ground. "Oh My God, baby are you okay?"

Jaune seemed to be trying to both enjoy have Suzanna dote on him and also be in pain with a dislocated shoulder. " I will be okay just get me on my feet okay." she did and once he was standing there was a yell that came out of the crowd that had gathered to watch.

"You should've tapped that you damn fool" the call out came from a student that Yang didn't know "You even had an excuse. What's the worst that could have happened she dislocated your shoulder, gee I wonder." his words were filled with humor as he seemed to be enjoying Jaune stubbornness. Yang made a note to find out who that was and beat him senseless latter. Right now she was again running across the room and getting ready to help Jaune to the infirmary to get his shoulder fixed.

Before she could Jaune walked over to Luke who was closer. And said, "Luke you got this?"

Luke, in turn, looked at Jaune and asked: "depends, YOU got this?" Jaune nodded and Luke grabbed his arm with one hand and the side of Jaune neck with the other hand. Then he pulled on the arm and pushed on the neck. When he released the arm it popped back into its proper place with a sickening pop.

After a pained Grunt Jaune turned to head back to the training area. "Where do you think you are going?" Suzanna asked. It was clear she didn't care what he had to say. She didn't want him to keep training. And she was going to do whatever it took to make him stop.

Jaune seemed to understand this so he turned and said. "We will go to the infirmary and then I will come back."

Suzanna didn't seem to like this and she answered with. "No, you will go to the infirmary and get that shoulder looked at." Jaune opened his mouth to speak but was promptly cut off by Suzanna who said. "I don't care that Luke just fixed it you are getting seen by an actual medical professional not one of your teammates. I just, I worry about you. Always trying to do it all yourself. Your gonna get hurt, and I … I just" her words grew more and more emotional and her eyes began to water as though she had been thinking about Jaune being hurt on a mission. Her voice seemed to crack as she broke down a started weeping into Jaune's shirt.

It was obvious the effect this had on Jaune who instantly wrapped his left arm around her and began to head for the door saying. "Okay, let's just get to the infirmary and go from there."

As they were leaving Yang caught a glimpse of Suzanna and though she wanted to say she saw the eyes of someone who was using a sad face and some forced tears to play Jaune's heartstrings. instead, Yang saw genuine fear on Suzanna's face. This girl worried about losing Jaune to the life he had chosen.

As they left Yang looked to Blake and said, "I want to hate her, I really want to hate her. But I can't she loves him and I can't fault her for that because I do too. At this point all I can do is accept that she made a move and I didn't." her eyes were watering now. She was accepting defeat and it tasted bittersweet. She could sleep knowing that Jaune would be happy but her dreams would be haunted by the fact that it wasn't with her.


	11. Chapter 11

Jaune sat on the bed in the infirmary in room 005 waiting for the doctor to check on his shoulder. He and Suzanna were only waiting for a short time before the doctor walked by the door and glanced at the two of them. She kept moving for a few more steps before she returned to the doorway and said. "Arc, didn't I release you less than an hour ago?"

Jaune sheepishly looked down and said, "Yeah, but I am back now. My shoulder got dislocated again."

The doctor's face contorted from curiosity to annoyance. "And how did that happen?" she asked.

Jaune continued to look at the same tile on the floor as he spoke. "I got into a fight and refused to tap out when I should have."

His answer seemed to satisfy the doctor who looked at him and asked. "Didn't Luke put it back in its socket?" Jaune nodded and looked at Suzanna with a face that told the doctor everything she needed to know about the visit. "I'll go get you a sling," she stated as she walked off the supply closet. She knew Jaune didn't need it but it would make his girlfriend feel better so she went along with it.

…

Back at the dorms, Luke was on the phone with Jorge. "Can you get him here in time?" after a moment of Jorge speaking on the other line, Luke said. "Thanks, this is really important. Alright, see you then."

hanging up the scroll Luke headed back into his team's dorm room and saw that Pyrrha had already headed for bed. Luke didn't know what he did to deserve her. She was sweet, beautiful and she loved Martin like he was her own son. Sure he had his doubts about getting romantically involved with her at first. After all, she was still almost three younger than him and she was Pyrrha Nikos, she could have easily done better than him. He was a former pirate hunter and single father. And yet, she had fallen as in love with him as he had with her.

He also knew that hard times were coming. News of Pyrrha's pregnancy had already been leaked to the media. And they had had a field day with it. Apparently Pyrrha was "too young," and "too naive" they often insinuated that Luke had somehow taken advantage of her. A few even said that Luke had "spoiled" her soul. Those were the one that made him angry. They can say whatever the hell they want about him. Their words on him are irrelevant. But when they spoke about Pyrrha as though she were a side of beef and that by loving her Luke had somehow damaged her in an irrevocable way.

What was worse was the way that they reacted to the incident with Henkel Johnson. The man had tried to kill Luke less than a day ago but the news had already heard about it. "FIANCE KILLS ADORING FAN WITH CHOPSTICK" the headline was clearly meant to draw in readers. The story had it out as though Johnson was coming over to talk with Pyrrha when Weiss attacked him. They were saying that Johnson acted out of self-defense and that Luke killed in a fit of jealous rage.

Another one acknowledged that Johnson tried to kill Weiss but instead of saying that Luke intervene even when he didn't need to. They said that Luke felt like Weiss wasn't able to defend herself because she was a girl and that he was simply being sexist. Luke couldn't fault the people writing the article after all they were doing a thing that made them money and supported their needs. But the folks who bought into this were what annoyed him. It was like they didn't understand that even though Weiss was just as capable of protecting herself as anyone else. ( in some cases she was more than able) doesn't mean that she should have to. As long as Luke is alive he won't allow a woman to be placed in danger whenever he could afford it. Not because they could handle it. But in his mind, that was something that he was much, much better at. And he couldn't risk one of them getting hurt trying to do what he saw as his job.

He breathed in and did his best to release all of his frustration in one strong breath. He needed to go to bed and the last thing Pyrrha needed was to have him in such a foul mood. When he reached his usual spot on the left side of the bed he gently climbing in next to Pyrrha who by now was asleep. Luke rolled over and laid on his right side so that he could see Pyrrha. She seemed so peaceful. Reaching around the front of her and lightly placing his hand on her stomach over the bulge caused by the child she was carrying. Her hands wrapped around his hand and they laid there in silence. There was no need for them to speak. The words would just be an expression of the thoughts they already shared.

Luke didn't know what he did to deserve the angel laying with him now but he would do anything to keep her safe. and if that meant being cast as a monster by the tabloids and blogs, well then that was a price he would pay in a heartbeat.

Jaune sat shirtless on the edge of the bathtub in his dorms bathroom. He knew that full tubs weren't standard for the dorms but he was in an empty teacher's dorm because of his unusual team situation. So he sat on the edge of his bathtub while Suzanna carefully took a razor to his face. It was the first time since Durant that he had fully shaved and he considered it to be a sort of release from what happened in that cursed town.

In truth, he had kept the mustache and Goatee as long as he did because he wanted to remind himself of the mistakes he made and to force him to never make them again. But Suzanna wanted it gone so it was going. She had to be convinced to let him shave it though since she had his right arm put in a sling. When he finished he looked in the mirror and saw that he had done a good job. Running his hand along his now soft face he said, "well, it had to come off eventually."

Behind him, he heard a shocked gasp. When he turned he saw Suzanna in the doorway with her hand over her mouth. He didn't understand what was wrong until he saw himself in the mirror. His chest was littered with scars and small burns. "Souvenirs" he had called them. Gifts from the enemies he had faced in his life.

"What happened to you?" she asked her voice heavy with worry.

Jaune's face grew the same sheepish smile he always sprouted whenever he was the center of attention like this. "Well, um, which time?"

By the face, she made he knew that was the wrong answer. And deciding to get this over with he just started pointing and speaking. "Gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunsh… wait that was a stab, stab, stab, this one was actually a bull's horn long story. Oh and this is where one of the Marvins brothers tried to kill me with a bowie knife." under his breath he muttered. "Almost did too, lucky bastard"

He was going to go on to explain the Grimm scars and the grenade burns when Suzanna ran over and threw her arms around him. It was strange Jaune was a highly trained hand to hand fighter, a very good shot, hell he was even handy with a knife. All of that and he still had no defense for Suzanna crying her eyes out.

"Okay, I am right here," Jaune said as he spoke he guided Suzanna over to the couch and laid the two of them down. Her on top of him with her arms around him and her face buried in his chest.

"Please," he heard her say. "Please stop doing this to yourself. You don't need to be a hunter. And if you keep going you won't live long enough to be one anyway."

Jaune was now at a crossroads. This wasn't a choice he should make quickly, but in his heart, he knew that it wasn't a choice. Putting his hand on the back of Suzanna's head Juane leaned as far as he could to get closer to her ear and said. " I want you to think about this for a little while, being a hunter has been my ambition for most of my life. But you are the woman I love, you are the ambition of my life now. If you still want me to leave this life in a week then I will."

She looked up at him with watery eyes and opened her mouth to say something. She was interrupted however by the sound of Jaune's dorm scroll going off. "You might want to answer that," Suzanna said with an amused look in her eye.

Looking first at the ringing scroll then back to Suzanna he responded. "It can wait." his arms tightened around her and began to gently run his hand through her hair. The scroll ran four more times and then the answering machine activated, it didn't play the recording but it did play the message being left.

"JAUNE," it was Luke and it sounded bad, all at once Jaune was ready to leap up and go to his team's aide. "It's Pyrrha, she is in a lot of pain and I am taking her to the hospital. I don't know what is going on just get ahold of me when you can." the message was rushed and Jaune was now just as rushed. One of his teammates was in danger and he needed to be there.

Making his way to the bullhead bay he saw that one was already out and figured that Luke took it. Reaching into his pocket Juane quickly fished out a set of what looked like keys. When he inserted the keys into a matching slot at the control panel the craft came alive with noise and lights.

"Can you fly one of these things?" Suzanna asked

"Legally no, realistically yes," Jaune answered failed to truly convince her but that was not important. She was already locked in her seat and she wasn't going anywhere so she needed to trust him.

…

By the time they had reached the hospital, Jaune was nearly shaking with worry. He was going into panic mode and Suzanna knew that she needed to try to calm him down. Wrapping her arm around one of his own she said. "You need to breathe Jaune. You are no good to Pyrrha or Luke if you are suffering from a heart attack."

He seemed to understand and took several deep breaths before continuing. When they reached the room they saw Luke sitting outside the waiting area.

Drawing closer Jaune asked "Luke, is she okay?"

Luke looked up and with a relieved expression said. "She needed to have her appendix out but other than that she will be okay. They are operating on her now."

Then both Jaune and Luke's scrolls began to ring. Answering them they were both greeted by the face of the headmaster of the school. Once they were both online Ozpin said. "Mr. Arc and Mr. Warrior I need to see you both immediately." the call ended as suddenly as it had started.

Luke seemed to be conflicted between answer Ozpin's summons and staying near his fiance. Finally, it was Suzanna who seemed to have an idea. "You two go to your meeting I will stay here."

as she spoke a small child ran over to Luke and started yelling "DADDY, DADDY, WHERE IS MOMMY?" he was clearly scared and melting down.

Dropping to a knee Luke wrapped his arms around his son and said "Mommy is going to be okay I need to go to a meeting and you need to stay here with Suzanna okay. It is time to brave young one."

Nodding Martin walked over to Suzanna and wrapped his arms around Suzanna who seemed to take to being made babysitter well.

Looking at the door Jaune saw a large man with dark skin. It was the same man Jaune had seen around the cabin. Jaune didn't know much he knew the man had the callsign Snake Doctor. And if he was the one that Jorge sent to bring Martin here then he knew that Martin was in good hands.

"Let's get going, Ozpin is waiting," Luke said as he started toward the door.


	12. Chapter 12

_**happy mother's day, and sorry for the late fix. I wasn't aware of the error for some time.**_

 _ **Noruas**_

It was a simple mission but Jaune and Luke were both in a hurry to get back. It was mother's day and they both had somewhere to be. Luke needed to be with Pyrrha and Jaune needed to see his own mother. If she found out that he missed mother's day because he was on a mission she wouldn't be happy. It had been five days since they left and Luke was receiving nightly updates on Pyrrha's condition. There were complications with the surgery but she and the baby both made it out, they were also both still in the recovery ward. Martin was staying with team Rockslide throughout the day. He would spend breakfast with team RWBY. then he would go with Suzanna to spend the day with Pyrrha. And he would then spend the night with Ren and Nora. Luke had been told that the giddy grenadier and monotone monk where surprisingly good with children.

Looking back to the matter at hand Luke saw Jaune staring down the optic of his rifle, he was locked in on their target. A white fang area supervisor. They both were a little unsure about essentially being assassins but when they heard that this man had a habit of "taking" any female soldiers he captured they were less worried about the moral implications. When at the briefing they were shown pictures of his victims. Jaune knew he had a tough stomach but he had a hard time not throwing up.

"I have eyes on the bastard, what do you see?" Jaune's question was direct. He wanted Luke to scan over the rest of the Fang camp with his monocular. Jaune didn't want to take the shot until they were sure that their exfil route was secure.

He scanned over and saw that the camp was almost empty. It was early in the morning and the scumbag of a leader was doing his morning stretches. If Jaune was asking then that meant that he had a shot and he wanted to know if he should take it. They had waited for days but the opening was finally there

Luke gave one final overlook and said. "Clean shot path, send it."

There was a brief pause as Jaune began to squeeze the trigger. Then the shot broke. They were using the suppressor that came built into Jaune's C.A.S.A.C.O.M. but even then they didn't use subsonic rounds. As such there was a loud crack as the large 55 caliber 400-grain bullet struck the man in the chest dumping well over 320 pounds of force into his chest all at once. Now because the bullet was supersonic someone would hear it. The important thing was that the enemy had no way of knowing exactly where they were.

As soon as the hit was confirmed by Luke they were on their feet and heading to the extraction point. They had been running for about thirty seconds when Jaune pulled out the detonator. When he squeezed the lever there was a moment of silence and then a loud blast. During the night Jaune had snuck down and placed explosives on the bullheads and trucks that were there. They had waited a few seconds to give the white fang combatants time to get into the vehicles before they destroyed them. After all Luke and Jaune needed to start a game of attrition, once it was more expensive to chase them then to let them go they would stop chasing them.

They still had a several second heads start and the Fang soldiers would be on foot. But they still needed to wait for the extract bird to get there.

When they reached the rally point Jaune wheeled around to face the direction the Fang would most likely be coming from while Luke went to work signaling for extract. It would be several minutes before they bullhead arrived but they had enough rounds in Jaune's rifle to hold the extract point and Luke was about to head out into the forest to pick off anyone he could.

Once the signal was sent the transmitter responded with a number, that number was the number of minutes before the extract would arrive. "5 Mikes Top." Luke used the callsign to avoid anyone hearing Jaune's actual name.

"Solid copy, get into position." as he spoke Jaune pressed a button and the rifle shifted over into its carbine mode. He was getting ready to have a close-range firefight.

Luke sprinted into the forest and found a good spot to hide. Once he was there he dropped to a crouch and waited. The first wave rushed right passed him. "Hurrghm," he thought to himself. They weren't very well trained, they didn't check for any traps of mines. That meant these were the cannon fodder. It would be best if he left these ones to Jaune. That way the experienced guys wouldn't know that Luke was even here.

Sure enough, there was a lot of gunfire for about 30 seconds but then there was silence. Jaune had cover, ammo, aura, and experience. Those poor bastards just got feed to a woodchipper.

Soon the next line was coming, these were the experienced and trained soldiers. Luke knew that he wouldn't be able to evade them so once one got close enough to him he struck.

Lunging to his feet he ran his blade through the man's throat. His body fell to the forest floor a moment later. The man to his left had a very nice set of antler which Luke promptly grabbed and used to pull the man to the ground and then ram his sword through his throat as well. By now they would know something was wrong but they wouldn't be certain what.

Luke then made his way to next pair, they saw him coming but it didn't do much good the first one had his head removed and the second had the flat of Luke's blade slammed across the back of her head and fell unconscious to the ground.

By now the bullhead was here and Luke needed to get to the extract point. The mounted machine guns in the bullhead would cover his approach.

He was inside the bullhead and on his way back to Beacon inside of 50 seconds. As usual, Jaune had more kills but that was to be expected.

The ride back was long but quite. The only major thing was that Luke got another status update on Martin and Pyrrha. It said that they were fine. Luke smiled at the thought of going home and being with Pyrrha for mother's day. It would be the first time that Martin had a mother on mother's day so he was eager to see the way his son's face lit up.

They had arrived at Beacon at around 4:30 pm. As part of the Doctors orders, Pyrrha needed to take a nap at around noon each day. That meant that Luke was currently trying to sneak his way to the hospital room and surprise both Martin and Pyrrha.

He had made his way to the room and when he peeked inside he was slightly dismayed to see the room empty, then he began to worry when he saw that the bed had been remade as though they were getting ready for the next patient.

Going over to a nurse Luke asked her. "Ma'am, where is Ms. Nikos?"

The nurse seemed to briefly have the look of a deer caught in the headlights before she finally said: " I am sorry sir but I am only allowed to talk to family members about a patient's condition.."

At this Luke grew more annoyed and held up his hand saying. "she is my fiance, and the mother of my child where the HELL IS SHE!"

It was likely that Luke didn't even notice his own voice growing louder as he spoke. His fear and worry taking over him. If this nurse didn't give him a straight answer he was going to start tearing the entire hospital apart brick by brick until he found them.

The Nurse again looked like a deer in the headlights, clearly, she didn't know how to respond to this situation. This wasn't in her training. There was an unstable man with a sword yelling at her and she was about to burst into tears.

"Young man," the words came from an unexpected source. Professor Port stood a few feet away and said. "The headmaster has summoned you to his office, he says it is about Ms. Nikos."

his tone was serious and it put Luke on edge. "What do you mean, where is she, professor."

The rotund professor offered no response to this and simply gestured in the direction of the headmaster's office.

Luke had just made it into Ozpin's office when he began to sense that something was wrong. The normally stoic professor had a face that could only be described as sympathetic. "Luke, I don't want to waste your time with frivolities, you're not that kind of man. Ms. Nikos. She is…" there was a moment of pause as Ozpin readied himself for what he was about to say. "Ms. Nikos is deceased."


	13. Chapter 13

"Ms. Nikos is deceased." the words rang in his head over and over again. He could hear Ozpin offering the official condolences of Beacon academy Luke didn't hear them. His entire world had just fallen down around him. The woman he loved and the child they were having. Both of them gone. He had lost a love before but not like this. Not this badly. He was there when Martin's birth mother died, true he loved her too. But he was also holding their newborn son in his arms. It gave him solace that her last thoughts were the three of them.

Martin, he didn't know where his son was. "Headmaster!" Luke said as he rose to his feet. "Where is my son?"

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee as though he needed to think about what his answer was. "He is with Team Mr. Ren and Ms. Valkyrie, he is quite safe I assure you." the older man set his eyes once more as though to tell Luke that there was more. "Ms. Nikos' heart and fetal monitor had the alarms turned off. And a Morphine Machine was activated and attached to her saline drip." he paused once more in order to give Luke time to put together what Ozpin was saying. "She was murdered, Luke."

If Luke's entire world had just fallen apart then he didn't even know what had just happened. Someone had killed her, someone had killed one of the kindest people he had ever known. "Headmaster," Luke had to stop for a moment to gather his strength before he continued. "When did she die?"

The elder man too paused as though he once more had to think about his answer before offering it. "The nurses noticed that she had passed at 1in the afternoon. However, the records of the machines indicate that she passed at 12:25 in the afternoon. Once more I am sorry. But your son was there. We do not know how much he knows or understands but he was in the room when it happened."

This left Luke with so many questions. How do they know that Martin was there but not know who did this? And where the hell was Suzanna she was supposed to be Martin although the day? But right now he needed to go tend to his son. Martin was scared and probably hurt almost as much as Luke was.

It was odd. He had just lost the woman he loved and a child he never been given the chance to know. And his only concern now was his son.

Making his way to team PLNR's dorm Luke entered and found Ren, Nora, and Martin all huddled together. Nora and Martin were sobbing and Ren seemed to be doing all he could to comfort them in spite of the tears in his own eyes.

Once Martin saw Luke he leaped to his feet and ran over to his father. Before he had even reached him Luke had his son in his arms. Martin was wailing incoherently but Luke didn't need to hear him to understand. "Shhh, I'm here buddy, I've gotchu son." Luke's accent was slipping out but he didn't care it only happened when he was exceptionally stressed.

Soon Martin's wailing settled down and then he drifted off to sleep in his father's arms. Carrying Martin across the hall to team RWBY's dorm. He lightly knocked and a moment later Blake answered.

"Hey Luke," it was clear she had been crying just as he imagined the rest of team RWBY was. Pyrrha was a good person with many friends. All of them would be grieving tonight. They stood there in an awkward silence for a time before she continued. "Is there something you need?"

The inquiry as to his motives seemed to snap Luke from his trance-like state he had been locking think about how many people Pyrrha's death was going to hurt. "Yes," he said holding his sleeping son out a small amount. "I need you to watch Martin for a little while." in truth the last thing he wanted to do was hand his child over to someone else but right now he needed to talk with his team in private.

Blake offered no verbal response she simply reached out and took the sleeping child in her arms before returning to her room.

Looking back to the dorm of his team Luke once more crossed the hall and entered in. locking eyes with Ren he said in a shaky voice. "Please tell me that there was a massive communications dealy. Please, tell me that is what it was."

Nora went to say something when Ren put his hand on her shoulder and said. "No, nothing like that happened. Why do you ask?"

All at once the tension in the room exploded. "THEN WHY DID I GET A TEXT SAYING THAT EVERYTHING WAS FUCKING FINE THREE HOURS AFTER PYRRHA WAS DEAD"

The shouting loud enough to make the water in the glass on Ren's desk and Luke could only hope that it didn't wake up Martin.

"Well," he continued. "What do you have to say for yourself," as he spoke Luke crossed the room and grabbed Ren by the collar before shaking and throwing him across the room. "Say something you piece of filth!"

Luke brought his right hand down in a blow that could have been lethal. Ren shifted his body 3 inches to the left. using his left palm he pressed Luke's right arm off the line of attack and using his right hand he grabbed Luke's right wrist. in the blink of an eye, Ren drove his left knee into the back of Luke's right knee. buckling it and dropping Luke to a knee. leaning forward Ren pushed Luke to the floor and for a brief moment Ren for an instant he thought. then his eyes set to the hardness of a diamond and he pushed Luke's arm forward until the room was filled with a disturbing POP!

Ren quickly scrambled to his feet and backed up across the room. He was careful to put himself between Luke and Nora, even now he put HER safety beyond his own or even Luke's.

Luke rolled to his feet and locked eyes with Ren. the staring contest ended when Luke asked in a tired and pain voice "why, why would you lie to me. I trusted you. I HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW!"

As he spoke his words grew louder and more tempered. And it was at this point that Ren had finally had enough.

"DAMMIT LUKE, YOU THINK I WANTED TO LIE TO YOU. NO, FUCK NO" as Ren yelled his own voice rose to a dull roar echoing off of the walls. "I DIDN'T DO IT FOR YOU, I DID IT FOR MARTIN. HE JUST LOST HIS MOTHER and I wasn't about to let him LOSE HIS FATHER IN THE SAME DAY because you lost your will to go on. I would never be able to orphan him like that." in truth, it was a pain Ren knew all too well. It was the pain he felt every time he thought back to his childhood and then the day that it ended.

Shaking his head to clear the dark thoughts of that day Ren saw that Luke was heading for the door. Once he was outside of the room he slammed the door with so much force that paint from the door jam flaked off and fluttered to the ground.

And that was it, Nora had had enough. It started out small with a fear tears. But soon she was shaking from her sobbing. Looking back at her Ren felt a wave of shame rush over him. He got so wrapped up in his own pain that he forgot about Nora. here she was, having just lost her Pyrrha and now Ren a Luke fight before Luke runs off. He knew that she was just getting used to having a small pseudo family group. Pyrrha had taken on the role as team mom and Luke was easing into the role of the dad friend but now Pyrrha was dead and Luke was gone.

Walking over to her he held her in his arms and began to speak to her. "Shhh, I know I'm sorry." as he spoke Ren gently rubbed her back and holding her tightly. They stayed there until Nora finally stopped sobbing. Gently he pulled Nora to her feet. He helped her over to her bed and got her to lay down, he knew that she needed to rest. They all did but first Ren had to see to one more thing.

"Nora, I am going to come back but I need to go talk with Jaune first. Can you stay here for me?" the question was an important one. Because if she couldn't deal with him leaving the room then he wasn't going anywhere. His team was important to him but Nora was far more important. When she offered a weak nod of her head to say yes Ren wrapped his arms around her once more and whispered. "It's time to brave little Valkyrie." it was a small line that he had always told Nora whenever things were about to get harder. Whether it was a fight that was about to start or when she had a rough nightmare.

With that taken care of Ren rose to his feet and headed for the door. He fought to keep himself from looking back because if he did then he wouldn't be able to leave her. And right now he needed to see Jaune.

…

When he reached Jaune's dorm room he lightly knocked and the door swung open. It seemed that Jaune was expecting company and left the door unlocked and slightly open.

"Jaune, are you in here?" Ren made sure to ask before he entered just in the off chance that Jaune wasn't here.

When he received an empty "yeah" from within the room Ren entered. Ren thought he would find Jaune here. In times like these, the leader needs to have his men only see his strength. If they see his weakness then they would reflect that weakness.

Ren had understood this ever since he started to travel around with Nora when they were children.

Opening that door the rest of the way Ren saw Jaune sitting on his bed, he was seemingly focusing on something though Ren couldn't figure out what. It was possible that he was meditating but Ren never took Jaune for the meditating type. Walking over he said, "are you okay?"

There was no right to answer that question and Ren knew it. Jaune wasn't alright but the way he answered would help Ren figure out what is wrong. "No, I'm not alright. They are dead Ren. they died because I wasn't here to protect them. Just like Gypsum."

Nodding with him Ren sat down and placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. He didn't know who Gypsum was but it wasn't hard to figure out that she died and Jaune blamed himself for it. Right now Jaune seemed to need to just have a shoulder to lean on. And he was here to offer it.

Much to Ren's shock Jaune seemed to not notice him. It was as though Ren had read him wrong. It had happened before but it wasn't the sort of thing that happens too often.

Ren opened his mouth to speak when he was cut off by Jaune. "Ren, I felt her die."

To say that Ren was confused would not do the lack of understanding the man now experienced justice. "Jaune when Pyrrha died you and Luke were somewhere in the Mistral. How could you have felt it?"

With that same thousand-yard stare, Jaune said. "Not Pyrrha, I felt Suzanna die. It was just after I found out about Pyrrha. I tried to find Suzanna to find out what had happened when I felt her die. I couldn't save her."

Though his initial confusion had cleared up Ren now had new questions. One of the most important and yet somehow most obvious was how Jaune had felt Suzanna die. On the one hand, there was no reason that he would be able to do this but Ren had also noticed a strange energy coming off of Jaune and Suzanna that was definitely not their aura.

Pushing these things to the back of his mind Ren asked the next most pressing question. " Jaune, I know this is a bad time but Luke has just stormed out and I don't think he plans to come back. What should me and Nora do?" it was a question that held much significance. Ozpin most likely wouldn't keep a team of two first years and so it was likely that team PLNR would be dissolved and Ren and Nora given an honorable expulsion due to team fatalities. In truth, they could have survived the loss of Pyrrha and Luke. Ren would have ensured it but Ozpin was probably filling out the paperwork right now.

Jaune said nothing he simply stared at the floor between his feet with so much focus that Ren doubted a grenade could break it. Jaune didn't speak for several more minutes before he said. "Jorge is on his way. He will know what to do."

It was obvious that Jaune wasn't in a talking mood so Ren chose to leave him to his meditation. Closing the door behind him Ren took out his scroll and dial the number for headmaster Ozpin's office. The line rang three times and then it answered. "Yes, Mr. Ren how may I help you?"

Much to Ren's surprise, it was Ozpin who answered the line. In hindsight it made sense. Anyone who needed to talk to Ozpin needed to talk to Ozpin and if anyone were to prank call him then he was already there to dispense the appropriate discipline. Getting back on track Ren said. " Sir, in the event that you don't already know I need to tell you that in addition to Pyrrha's passing Luke has left and I doubt he is going to return."

"Thank you for telling me, I regret to inform you that without at least three teammates by the end of the first year I am required to terminate your status as students. I wish you and Ms. Valkyrie the best of luck either in finding a new teammate or in the rest of your lives." with that Ozpin ended the call and Ren headed back to team PLNR's dorm. He wasn't sure why he never mentioned that Jorge was on his way but Ren felt that it was best if Ozpin didn't know that. There was a strange tension in the air whenever Ozpin was mentioned during the time that everyone was staring with the Arc's

As he opened the door Ren realized that he was so busy thinking about what he and Nora were going to do that he forgot to mention that Suzanna was supposed to be dead. He deemed it odd that he would forget to mention that but he was tired and Nora needed him right now. Deftly pulling his shirt off over his head and climbing into the bed that she was in he quickly and smoothly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to his chest. Ren knew that what he was doing was dangerous, he knew that if let the feelings he had for Nora get a foothold they would be almost impossible to control. Just like everything else about her it was a force of nature that couldn't be stopped, just redirected.

When he felt her relax into him his heart slightly skipped. Despite her outward appearance, Nora was a very nervous sleeper. That fact that she was letting her guard down to him and leaving herself vulnerable while it was expected given their history still meant a great deal to him.

Realizing what he was thinking Ren banished the thoughts. Nora needed a friend more than anything else and what she needed was more important than anything. Even what he wanted. Closing his eyes Ren allowed the pain of the day to register in his mind. Soon the tears had begun to run down his face and almost made it to Nora's hair before Ren reached up and brushed them away.

Then Nora turned over so that she was facing him. With her eyes watery she tried to say something but there were no words that would be right for what she was feeling. Unable to continue she buried her face in his chest and wept. Soon Ren joined her in her mourning.

Soon they had both cried themselves to sleep and they were resting peacefully. They were going to need all the strength they get soon. 


	14. Chapter 14

Jorge had just arrived at Beacon when he got a call from the infirmary saying that someone was asking about the man who was suspected in the murder of Pyrrha Nikos. When he arrived he was greeted by an unexpected sight.

"Galmaron?" he said his word more of a question than a statement. The "oldest" Telmarvak had more or less backed himself out of the world after Suzanna's first death. Jorge had been meaning to contact him to tell him that she had been brought back but he hadn't been able to reach him.

"Jorge, have you seen this man?" quickly Galmaron held up a photo of a man with a chin strap facial hair that stopped for a ⅛ of an inch before a heavy goatee that left off at the mustache. His countenance was downtrodden and he seemed as though he was staring out into nothingness.

Jorge was in shock. "Gal," he said guiding him to an empty room before saying. "How did you get a photo of Hazel Reinhardt? He is one of the most dangerous men on the planet."

"That's simple, I trained him I practically raised him and for the past 11 years, I have been trying to find him. Jorge, he is practically my son."

That answered many of Jorge's questions. How he was trained so well, where he came from, and what gave him the ambition to seemingly start a one-man war with Ozpin. Jorge's face took on a somber expression as he said. "Gal he just killed a pregnant woman, and there's more. Gal Suzanna is dead."

Now it was Gal's turn to grow more serious. "Jorge, Suzanna is already dead. She has been for years."

Jorge looked down with a slight face of shame, "Orin brought her back. I don't know the exact details but he did. Gal, she is gone I felt it in the force. I think it may have been Hazel."

Galmaron was staggered by Jorge's words. Stepping back and falling into a chair. "What, how?"

It was not what Jorge had expected but it also made sense. After all, he saw himself as Hazel's father so he would blame himself for this. He most likely thought that he failed both Hazel and Suzanna.

"This wasn't your fault Gal," Jorge said. He knew that it probably wouldn't help but it was all he could say.

"Damn it. I lost her, I lost her again. Dammit." Galmaron said. His eyes had begun to water and he looked at Jorge and said. "Did you ever find out what happened to Suzanna's mother?"

Jorge thought for a moment to find the best response. " no, I was never even told that Suzanna existed. All Orin told me was your marriage fell apart and then you fell off the grid."

Galmaron nodded slightly "that is all true but after Suzanna died Jochebed and I had hit a rough patch, but I loved her so I tried to work through it. But the loss of our daughter hit her harder than I knew." he was crying now this was a painful memory for him and Jorge knew it. Pouring a cup of water and handing it to his kin. Taking a breath Galmaron continued. "She packed her car full of explosives and drove into the center of a white fang compound. She blamed them for Suzanna's death so she decided to kill as many of them as she could."

Galmaron needed to stop for a moment. And after he had regained his composure he said. "After she was gone the only thing I still had was Hazel so I began to look for him. That is where I have been for the last 11 years."

It explained why Galmaron had fallen off the grid.

"Jorge, how did she die?" Galmaron asked. He wanted to know the truth about his daughter

"I don't know for now but I know it happened yet, I have feelers in the VPD when they find her I will let you know." after he spoke Jorge had a scroll call that he was about to ignore when Galmaron told him to take.

"I'll be fine," the elder Telmarvak said. He was deep into his own mind now. He was fighting the darkness within himself.

Nodding Jorge stepped out and hit the answer button. "Go for Telmarvak," he said.

"Sir," came the reply. It was Xi-jinn Freeman, Jorge's man inside of the VPD. "we found her sir."

…

Suzanna had just left the room to get Martin a cup of water when she first felt it. A presence she had felt before and while she knew not where it was from it filled her with an unholy dread. She fell into the nearest seat and started looking around. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary she closed her eyes and she reached out into the force. She wasn't very practiced at it but thanks to her Telmarvak blood she was naturally gifted at it as well. Soon she felt it a presence that seemed to be the cause of her dread. Focusing in on it she was left with a direction. It was vague but she knew that it was a start.

Following the feeling, she caught a glimpse of what she thought was the source of her feelings. He was a large man, extremely large he stood at least 7 foot 4. And he looked to weigh almost 400 pounds. Truly a giant man. He was leaving the hospital but Suzanna knew that she needed to follow him. There was something about him that seemed to cloud her senses in the force and she needed to fix that.

She followed him from a distance for several halls of the hospital until she saw him leave. Then she waited for a minute and went after him. Using the force she followed him she was careful to not get to close and to never actually make eye contact with him.

She had followed him for almost two hours before she began to worry that she had been made. But he never tried to lose her he would simply stop into a small shop for a time before he began to move again. She was beginning to get worried that she had been following a random man for no reason other than he gave her a weird feeling. The longer she worried the more innocent the man looked. But she followed on, listening to her gut.

An hour later she made a mistake. She made eye contact with him. And then he was gone. He ran faster than a man his side should have been able to and she began to run to keep up with him. Suzanna saw him dash into an alleyway and she went after him. When she reached the corner she stopped and then all at once turned the corner and looked in the back of the dark dead end street. She began to walk down the way and when she reached a dumpster she snapped around the side and saw a small doll. And then…

Hazel found it disgustingly easy for him to sneak into the hospital that Tyrion said the Nikos girl was staying in. when he found the room he felt his heart grow heavy. The Nikos girl was asleep and she had a fetal monitor on, a further inspection showed that there was a small boy napping while he was curled into her side. What he was about to do went against his every fiber being.

But this woman had murdered his niece. The police reports that Watts had somehow gotten had made it clear that Penelope had the girl dead to rights and yet somehow his niece was killed by a blow that couldn't have come from someone as severely injured as the Nikos girl was. That coupled with the fact that the Nikos girl survived her injuries told Hazel that this was a cover-up.

Yet somethings still didn't make sense. The police report had listed Penelope under the fake identification that Watts had given her. That meant that either no one knew her identity and Ozpin covered up the murder of an innocent civilian. Which was not beyond the monster to do if he felt it help him grow his army of brainwashed children. Or his niece had been targeted and this was all an elaborate trap to draw him in.

Shaking the thoughts of the moment aside Hazel focused on his objective. This girl had killed his niece and she had to be made to pay for her actions. Reaching into his pocket Hazel withdrew the syringe that he had filled with succinylcholine derivatives that Watts had provided him with. In truth, the doctor was like an uncle to Penelope and he wanted her killer dead almost as much as Hazel did. Watts said the drug would both sedate then kill the victim.

Injecting the contents into the I.V. of the sleeping Nikos would kill her in relative peace. She seemed to already be under sedation so she definitely wouldn't be waking up. And it would mimic the effects of a morphine overdose.

With the poison administered Hazel then used the same syringe to extract as much of the Morphine from the machine as he could. To the hospital's credit, it would have been difficult to get the code for the machine so he opted to not deal with the machine at all, the poison would make it look like a morphine overdose and with the amount of morphine missing from the machine it would be considered a mechanical error.

His business almost concluded Hazel switched off the fetal monitor and the heart rate monitor alarms. Hazel then left the hospital as quickly as he could without drawing suspicion. His little trick with the alarms would only buy him a few minutes so he needed to move fast.

Having left the hospital Hazel continued to travel through streets of Vale on his way to his safehouse. But there was something wrong. He was being followed but he couldn't tell how or by who. He had ducked into several stores and watched the doors, he went in one exist and then snuck out the back one. He even went into one building and then busted through a basement wall so that he could leave through a different building.

All of that and yet he still felt like he was being followed. This game of cat and mouse played out for several hours until Hazel finally got lucky. He saw her. A girl about 18 years of age. She was several blocks back and was staring directly at him. She had to be the one tailing him. Wheeling around Hazel began to run to the nearest alleyway. He was careful to not run as fast as he was able to. If this plan was going to work then he would need to have her underestimate his speed.

As he ran past a dumpster he tossed one of Penelope's old dolls behind it. The small plaything would keep making noise until either it was turned off or the battery died. Hazel hated using the doll like that but it was all he had.

With her footsteps approaching her had to move fast dropping to a crouch Hazel then leaped up and just cleared the roof of the one-story building he then ripped a brick off of the side of the wall and strode over to the other side of the building. He watched her turn down the alleyway and when she reached the dumpster the noise from the toy drew her attention she turned her head offering a shot at her temple.

Holding the brick like a football Hazel threw it as hard as he could. The force wouldn't kill her thanks to her aura but it would make her much easier to kill afterward.

Or at least that was the plan when the brick connected and all but destroyed her head Hazel realized that she had no aura. Which was odd but not the most important thing now.

With his follower, dead Hazel continued on about his way completely unaware the role his actions played in the plans of others.


	15. Chapter 15

**_sorry if the grammar check isn't quite up to the usual level, my grammar checker is down for now._**

"We found her" the words from Xi-Jin Freeman rang through the air from Jorge's scroll. The call ended and a photo arrived on Jorge's scroll. The image was gruesome. There was a message attached to the photo. "The lab says it was a brick going a little over 80 miles per hours. There is no way a non-huntsman did this. We will keep you updated."

That settled it for Jorge, Hazel had killed Suzanna. But her body was found and being tended to properly. He turned, heading back into the room Galmaron was in but the elder Telmarvak was gone. Perhaps he had vanished from the world to live his life in a dark corner of the backwoods, or maybe he was heading to the inner city. Jorge had a hard time predicting Galmaron.

Reaching into the bag he brought with him Jorge found the papers he had drafted on his way here. When he heard that team PLNR was going to be disbanded he began to plan what he was going to do for the two remaining teens.

Making his way through the dorms he passed by Jaune's. He almost opened the door but he sensed that Isabao was already in there and he knew that Jaune needed his mom more than him right now.

Upon arriving at his destination Jorge opened the door of team PLNR. Once inside he saw Ren and Nora cuddling on one of the beds. As he approached them he pulled out several sheets of paper and a pen.

"Young man I know you are awake could you please look at me." as Jorge spoke Ren slowly rose from where he was and looked at the older man. "I know that Pyrrha is gone and Luke has left. And I also know that Ozpin was drafting up the paperwork to terminate your team ten minutes ago."

The slight quirk of his eyebrow gave away Ren's subtle intrigue, most likely because Jorge said the words was, and if Ozpin had finished drafting the paperwork it would have been delivered to them by now. _What do you mean Ozpin WAS drafting. Did he finish._ The boy didn't say it however Jorge was peering into the boys mind and soul.

Jorge laughed, "No I am not here to throw you out. But you should know before I continue that I am fully aware of what happened in Beihai and Yatsushiro." At the mention of the two cities in Mistral he sat up and began to slowly reach for the pen at the side of his bed.

Jorges laughter continued. "Do I look like the police chiefs of either Beihai or Yatsushiro. You aren't in trouble I promise you. I am actually impressed with what I found. You did everything you could to protect the woman sleeping beside you, and you did the world a favor at the same time. That is why I have brought you these."

Offering the boy several sheets of paper with a pen he said. "Take your time and read carefully I will wait here." Looking down at the still sleeping Nora, Ren's lips twitched in a silent chuckle to match Jorge's. She must have been very tired if she was sleeping through this conversation. As he began to read the sheets of paper Jorge watched as understanding dawned on Ren's face. He was offering them both an opening at the **TELMARKIAN HUNTSMEN ACADEMY.** Looking at the older man Ren raised his eyebrow as if to ask him what was the meaning of this.

Following the young man's confusion Jorge said. "Let me explain, Jaune's father and myself were the leader's of a small nation up in the northern part of Vale. it was called the Telmarkian empire and now that Jaune's father has passed I am the sole ruler. I am in fact an emperor."

With the initial confusion cleared up Ren continued reading. The plan was simple. He and Nora would go train with Jorge for several months and when they weren't with Jorge they would be here at Beacon simply living in their team dorms. Jorge was planning to in effect rent the room from Ozpin. As he kept reading Jorge saw when Ren reached another stipulation that said that Jorge and Isabao would be… adopting him and Nora. It was a technicality they would both be eighteen inside of four months but at the same time it was enough to have Ren once more raise his signature questioning eyebrow at Jorge.

And once more the older man responded, "It is simply to make the paperwork flow easier. If you are my children then I can simply rent out the room and no one needs to know who is in it and it also complies with a form that Ozpin already has set up for this manner of situation. I know you are the Valkyrie's legal guardian but I also want you to know that you can trust me with this.,"

With his concerns clearly placated Ren signed the papers and handed them back to Jorge. "When do we leave?" Ren asked.

"When Isabao and I go back you can come with us, or if you feel like you need to stay here for a little longer you can let me know and I will send you a bullhead."

Taking the sheets from the would be monk Jorge placed them into his briefcase. "Well, now that that is settled you two need your rest. I will text you when Isabao and I are ready to leave. I need an answer by then."

With his piece spoken Jorge turned and left the room. Walking across the hall to team RWBY he lightly knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened. It was Yang who opened the door. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tears and the exhaustion that came along with taking care of a child who just lost his mother and had his father leave.

"I have come to take Martin with me and Isabao, Luke already called me." When the door was opened Jorge saw the toddler currently clinging to a very tired and demoralized looking Ruby Rose. Walking over to the young woman he held out his hands in an offer to take the child and she swiftly accepted. Holding the young boy to his chest he allowed the child to sob into his shoulder. Jorge gently rubbed the boy's back while softly saying, "I know buddy, I know." Holding Martin out so that he could see the boy's face Jorge spoke, "Hey buddy, daddy needs to figure some stuff out. Your gonna come live with me and mama Arc for a little while okay?"

The question was less of a question and more of a calm explanation of what was going to happen and it was also just what the hysterical toddler needed to hear. Sniffling lightly Martin leaned back in to Jorge's shoulder and was soon fast asleep.

This earned him several confused looks from Blake, Ruby, and Weiss and an impressed look from Yang. The first three had almost no experience with young children so the ability to make one go to sleep with such ease was unimaginable and Yang had some memories of raising Ruby and the fact that Jorge did it with such ease. As he headed for the door Jorge motioned for Yang to follow him. Once they were outside Jorge spoke. "Jaune is in shambles. He needs you now more than ever to help him pick up the pieces, I would know. After Romerean died Isabao was a mess. I lost my best friend but she lost her husband and the father of her children. She needed a shoulder to cry on. A set of arms to be held in, but make no mistake he needs a friend, nothing more. I know that you feel very strongly for him but those feelings must wait if you act now he may never get the chance to fully get over the loss."

Looking up the young woman before Jorge nodded. Jorge could tell she knew what he meant, it had taken Summer the better part of a year and a half before she made a move on Yang's father. Right now Jaune needed a friend and she would be that friend.

The two of them both traveled in silence all the way to Jaune's room. Once they arrived they saw Isabao waiting outside the door. "You just missed Jaune sweetie." her words were directed at Jorge and once Yang was in arms reach she wrapped the teenager in a hug that would have put Nora to shame. "Young child, if you or your team ever need to talk don't be afraid to call mama Arc. Understood?" the command was clear. And Yang couldn't doubt that someone would call her soon.

"Mama Arc," Yang asked. "Where is Jaune?"

"He went to the cliffs to try and catch up to Luke before he left, he said that he needed to tell him something." after she answered Isabao took Martin from Jorge and they headed for the bullhead that brought them here.

Once they left Yang began to head for the cliffs. When she arrived she saw Jaune standing alone. Looking out over the forest. "LUKE," he yelled in a voice that echoed across the forest. "LUKE, I KNOW THE PAIN YOU FEEL. I HAVE WALKED THE PATH YOU NOW TREAD. YOU MUST BE MINDFUL OF YOUR RAGE. IF IT CONSUMES YOU, YOU WILL BE LOST TO YOUR OWN MISERY."

Tears in his eyes and his warning delivered Jaune turned to leave when he saw Yang watching him. He briefly garnered a look akin to a deer caught in the headlights of a truck on one of the back roads of patch. "How much of that did you hear?"

It was clear that he had to tell Yang everything now. "Jaune what happened? How do you know what Luke is going through?" Jaune tired his best to not look at her and walk past but she stepped further into his way and said. "Jaune, what happened?" Her voice and eyes were filled with compassion. And it was all Jaune could take.

Falling to his knees he began to cry softly. His tears fell in almost complete silence. Yang was right there beside him. Offering him a shoulder on which he could lean. After a time he looked Yang in her eyes and said. "It's time you know the truth about Durant, and your uncle."


	16. Chapter 16

_**just so everyone knows I won't be updateing this stroy until after Father's day. until then I am going to be working on my Father's day special. thank you for your time.**_

Jaune and Yang sat down at the table in the dinner where Jaune jumped on his first grenade. Since then he had gotten much better at handling the blast. His aura had been strengthened through training and now he knew he could handle two maybe three grenades before his aura was exhausted.

Ordering them both a coffee Jaune looked to Yang and asked. "Do you remember a few months ago when you and I were staying at my father's old safe house. The night when I accidentally shot that mirror.?"

Yang offered a slight nod. He figured she would remember that after all, he woke her up too when it happened.

She was relatively certain what the direction of the conversation was but she chose to let him continue.

"That was in part a result of what happened in Durant." as he spoke he pulled out his badge sheriff of Durant was written across it in raised lettering. " I was made sheriff in less than an hour when I found the sheriff was about to rape someone in the stable. He died with my knife in his back."

While this was not a shook. Yang already knew that Jaune had killed but the fact that he said this with such a calm demeanor made Yang's expression grow slightly more serious.

"Later I meet with the Town Clerk. Her name was Gypsum. Now I need to explain that life in Durant moves very fast. Gypsum and I had dinner that night and we were married inside of a week. It was odd but it fit and we were happy,"

Yang tried but failed to keep her eye from raising at the mention of Jaune getting married but she soon brought it back under control. Like he had said life moves fast in Durant.

"We were expecting our first child in about a month," Jaune's eyes took on a semi-glossed over look. It was clear that he was thinking of what he thought of as happier times.

After he seemed as though he didn't want to keep going Yang asked. "Jaune, what is wrong?"

Jaune nodded and said. "That was about when your uncle showed up, Qrow." as he said the hunter's name his voice grew dark and filled with spite. "Your uncle killed Lee Marvin. He was trying to get Lee's eight brothers to come and try to kill him. Or so I thought. He pinned the killing on me so that the Marvin's would try to come after me. He planned to kill them afterward."

Yang didn't want to believe this but she also knew that her uncle had done some questionable stuff.

"They came while I was dealing with a fight over at the hotel. They didn't know where I was so they just sprayed into the sheriff's office." Jaune needed to stop for a moment and clear his throat and wipe the small tears from his eyes which now seemed as though they were seeing the horrors of his past. When he continued his voice was weak and almost cracked. "I got there as fast as I could, but they had fired almost 500 rounds into my office. I found them on the floor. In a pool of blood. They had been shot almost a dozen times."

Now Yang was fighting back her own tears. She was feeling the sadness that was emanating off of him. And she was trying to accept that her uncle had caused this. She was shaken from her thoughts when Jaune kept speaking.

"That is why I have such a burning hatred for your uncle. The fucking bastard killed my wife and unborn child" Jaune's eyes were still distant but now they also seemed to be filled with the pain of memories. Shaking his head in order to dispel the thoughts that were brewing Jaune spoke. "Your uncle didn't mean to get her killed, he was trying to do his job. And I was doing mine. I know I shouldn't hate him but … "

"Like hell you shouldn't." as she spoke Yang's voice rose with the rest of her. She was fishing around in her pockets for her scroll. When she found it she briefly scrolled through the contacts.

"What are you doing?" Jaune asked slightly afraid of the answer he may get.

"Calling my uncle, I need to have words with him." speaking as she dialed.

"Yang, no. we already had this discussion. He did a bad thing but he had the right intentions. Besides. If I had done my job then none of this would have happ ..."

once more he was cut off by Yang's angry yelling. "not another word of that out of you, I know that you want to shoulder all the responsibility in the world but you didn't do this. GOD, I HATE IT WHEN YOU GET LIKE THIS." having had enough of Jaune and Qrow both Yang stormed out of the dinner as she pressed the call button.

"so, I take it that you are in the metaphorical doghouse?" looking up Jaune saw the owner glancing down at him.

"hey slick, yeah we are all in a tough spot and she just got some even tougher news." even as he said the words Jaune knew that Slick could tell there was more. Jaune had no idea how the man could tell but he could.

pulling up a chair the man asked. "how many,?"

the question caught Jaune off guard. "what do you mean how many?" he said

Slick looked Jaune in the eyes and began to tell of all the times he had lost men in combat during his enslavement in the army of whatever country he was from. having finished some of his war stories he asked. "son, I used to be a squad leader, so I repeat. how many?"

it was clear what he had meant of course so with an ashamed tone Jaune said. "two, no wait three. one of them was pregnant."

Slick's eyes widened somewhat. he had lost brothers in war but he never had any mother's killed. now it was true that the entire army was comprised of men but still. "damn that's harsh who was the other one?" it was an uncomfortable question but it needed to be asked.

"the woman that I was in love with," Jaune's response was soft and low. giving away just how broken he currently was. "she needed me and I wasn't there. I failed her just like Gypsum"

this garnered a confused look from Slick who was no doubt wondering who Gypsum was. "Gypsum was my first wife, she was killed while she was carrying our first child. If I had just been a little faster ..." in truth Jaune was getting sick of being interrupted but since this was the first time Slick had done so he chose to let it slide, this time.

"Kid, if you were a few seconds faster then you may have died right beside them. now tell me. is that what Gypsum would have wanted for you?"

he was right of course and Jaune knew it. he had to stop holding the blame on himself. it was Qrow's plan that got her killed and he hated him for it. But hating Qrow won't bring them back. He learned from experience that harboring resentment for a person only lead to bad choices.

His scroll sounded and when Jaune looked down he saw that Jorge had sent him a text. Looking to Slick Jaune gave the man a look in the hopes that he would get the idea.

"I've said what I need to say. dinner is on me kid." after saying this Slick stood and headed back to the kitchen.

Reading the text informed Jaune that Ren and Nora were going to be living with Jorge and Isabao. Jaune figured that this was going to happen. They weren't going to stay at Beacon and Jorge saw potential in them.

Rising to his feet Jaune headed outside. Using the app on his scroll Jaune found out that Yang was several blocks to the east. It was a slight secret that Jaune had gps'd everyone's scroll. One that would serve him well.

He found her in an alley yelling into her scroll. "She was pregnant you drunk fuck. I didn't think that even you could ever get that drunk apparently I was wrong. You can be damn sure you won't be getting a warm welcome from me the next time we meet."

Dropping her end of the call she turned to go back to the dinner and collect Jaune only to be surprised to find Jaune at the end of the alley leaning against the wall. "Well, how long have you been standing there?" she asked suddenly very self-conscious of her language. She wasn't sure why. After all, she had heard Jaune use very, very creative language but for whatever the reason the verbal lashing her damn uncle just received had her on worried.

"I have been here long enough to know that know that you have a rather interesting view of your uncle. After all, if you really hated the man you wouldn't have bothered to call him. But the way you spoke or rather yelled means that you care enough to lay all the sadness you can on him in the hopes that he learns. If I am being honest it was kinda funny to watch someone play the mom card on their uncle."

as he answered Jaune walked the distance between them. Making sure to not step on the foot of the drunk who was slumped against the side of the building. In passing the man seemed familiar but not enough to rate any interest. When he reached Yang he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tried to guide her out of the alley.

"Come on," he said. "Ren and Nora are going to live with Jorge and Isabao and I think that you and I should get back to the school. The last thing we need is to add an aggravated Glynda to our problems." as he said the last part Jaune's eyes grew wide with mock horror.

This drew a laugh from Yang who walked out of the alley and headed to the bullhead dock. In truth, she was somewhat saddened when Jaune took his arm off of her shoulders but Jorge was right. He needs a friend at the moment. Nothing more.

If she was being entirely honest they all did.

…

Once they returned to Beacon and had made it back to the team RWBY dorm Jaune walked in with Yang and told the rest of team RWBY about Ren and Nora. they seemed okay with it. Ruby swore that she would find a way to keep in touch and the rest of them smiled at her endless optimism

With a smile on his face, Jaune strode over to the chair that he usually slept in. a part of him knew that he should have slept in his personal room but right now his team needed him. And they were all they had left. He couldn't leave them now.

Taking a trick from his father's play book. "Goodnight one, goodnight all. Let's go to sleep so that tomorrow we may stand big and tall."

His words earned an amused chuckle from several of the occupants of the room. It was quite cheesy and it was also what they all needed. As they all drifted off to sleep they began to wonder what troubles the future would hold for them.


	17. Chapter 17

Blake woke slowly when she heard a sound that didn't quite add up. It sounded like footsteps but it was 4 am. No one should have been walking around the halls.

Getting out of bed she walked to the door. Her heart raced when she placed her ear to the door and she heard the footsteps draw closer. They seemed to stop outside her door for a moment and she grew concerned. She leaned back from the door and grab the pencil from the nearest desk. It wasn't the pistol hidden under her bed but it was better than nothing and she didn't have time to reach the pistol anyway. Crouched next to the door she waited. When the footsteps continued on down the hall she returned the pencil to the desk where she got it from.

She knew that she should have gone back to bed. But well … her curiosity got the better of her. Not that she would ever tell Yang that. Is she did the brawling blonde would never let her forget about it.

Easing the door open she looked out and saw a large figure rounding the corner heading away from her. It was moving in the direction of the Beacon gardens. It was known that several students went to the gardens at night to clear their heads. That explained what was happening. Someone was taking a walk. But once more her curiosity got the better of her. And she followed him anyway.

Making her way to the garden she found a confusing sight. Jaune was sitting in the garden and he seemed to be crying. Blake's heart stopped when she saw what was laying on the stone bench next to him.

He had a gun. And a loaded magazine next to him. She could see the rounds in the magazine and they weren't like anything Blake had seen before. And upon further examination, she saw that there was only one bullet.

Now Blake's heart was racing. She was about to step forward and try to stop him when a heavy hand laid itself across her shoulder. Acting fast she turned in silence to strike. When she saw the owner of the hand she was at first shocked. She wouldn't have thought that Cardin Winchester would have been able to sneak up on her but he had.

With a finger over his mouth, he signaled her to be quiet. Leaning in close he whispered. " he may not know we are here, and it would be best if you left. I will take care of him but you aren't what he needs right now."

Understanding what he meant Blake turned and did her best to leave while making as little sound as possible. Returning to her room she did her best to return to sleep but she couldn't. She was afraid of what she may hear.

After Blake left for her room Cardin turned back to watch Jaune. He knew about the kind of bullet that Jaune had in his magazine. They were designed to pierce aura and they were expensive. The fact that the magazine only had one round told Cardin that he needed to be careful.

It wasn't too long ago that he sat where Jaune was sitting now. Yatsuhashi was there to help him and now he would be there to help Jaune.

He made his approach obvious and loud. Going out of his way to step on a few of the fallen sticks. Having reached Jaune he took a seat next to him.

The blonde boy had a blank stare. He was staring out at nothing and yet everything. And his hand was inching closer to the weapon. This was somewhat of a shock until Cardin realized that Jaune wasn't fully aware of who was here and he may not have been aware that he was here.

Next Jaune grabbed the magazine in his opposite hand. Not wanting to see where this was going Cardin quickly reached over and with one hand took the round out of the magazine and with the other field stripped the gun.

After the swift movement and the slight elbow that Cardin rammed into Jaune's side, the small man seemed to come back to his senses. He jumped slightly at the suddenly appearing Cardin but settled soon after. Then he turned his head to the now stripped pistol and empty magazine.

"I don't care who you what going to shoot, nothing is dying because you were seeing ghosts." as he spoke Cardin handed the upper half of Jaune's pistol back to him. But he kept the bullet.

"She's gone … both of them I mean … Pyrrha and Suzanna, they're ..." as Jaune tried to continue his throat seemed to seize up choking any more words from leaving his mouth. His eyes began to water and his whole body started to shake with the torment of his past and now his present.

Cardin turned the sobbing teen to face him and wrapped his brother in arms in a hug. It was a simple act but it was what was needed. They sat there for a time. Men who believed themselves unworthy of being cared for, both knowing the other had seen more of death than anyone twice their age. And boys who were forced to be men to young.

But it was the life they had chosen and it was the life that they would now lead. "Your team is going to worry about you. Go back to your chair and go to sleep. Team RWBY will need you now more than ever."

Tossing Jaune the bullet Cardin rose and headed to the exit.

"Cardin, how did you do that … the gun thing I mean?" Jaune looked at him with a level of comic shock as he realized how swiftly his friend striped his gun.

With a wide grin on his face Cardin said "Jaune, I am dating and am now going back to bed with one of the schools armorers, Velvet loves when I do stuff like that and as a result I can do that hanging upside down while I am reading out loud." with that he left Jaune there with his thoughts.

Rising to his own feet Jaune headed to the training room. He knew that Cardin thought he should sleep but he needed to work some stuff out. And Beacon had a training robot that was calling to him.

 _ **for the next few months I may start posting a little slower. I am sorry.**_


	18. Chapter 18

Jaune entered the training room and was shocked to see the training room was actually filled with four students training. They all looked like they were the attending some kind of class. the room was configured in the Japanese dojo style. The floor was lined with straw mats and the students all dressed in white was a weapons rack off to the side that held all the weapons of the students. Jaune couldn't see the instructor but presumed that this was simply a high-level class as two students were wearing black belts. He wasn't certain what it was for a moment until he saw what they were doing.

One student wearing a white gi and black belt stepped in on another and went for a right foot ax kick. In response, the defending student wearing a brown gi with a brown belt parried the strike to his own right and stepped around behind his partner. Bringing his hand up from behind and beneath he grabbed the attackers belt with his right hand and his left hand came around the attacker's neck from behind grabbing the right lapel of the gi. Then in one swift motion, the defender stepped to his right and dragged the attacker to the ground. Once there the defender who was now the attacker moved into side control and locked his victim into a vicious looking straight armbar that had the victim tapping out almost instantly

This was a jiu-jitsu class and he just saw a very clean takedown.

"HU,ORACK!" the command was one from a place and person of authority. Turning to find the source he saw Professor Port he was on an elevated platform that offered him a better view of the action. He was also wearing a strange looking gi. It was black but the belt was white. It seemed odd that the instructor had on a white belt but perhaps it was because the gi's were what was gi was what matched the rank of the wearer. But that meant that most of the class were very inexperienced.

Looking back to the fighters it was clear that the command was to stop because they both stood and bowed to one another.

"MISTER ARC, WHAT BRINGS YOU TO OUR CLASS." the professor's question was a fair one. It was early in the morning and Jaune had just wandered into his class looking mildly confused and in pain.

After a moment Jaune opened his mouth to answer but the overwhelming nature of the past twenty-four hours kept words from forming.

"CLASS, DISMISSED." after he ended class Port descended his platform and walked over to Jaune. "Render unto me your woes my dear boy."

Jaune wanted to keep his pain and his feelings to himself, they weren't Professor Port's problems.

"Professor, I have failed my team. PLNR has fallen apart and RWBY is a mess. Rockslide is dead. I …" once more his words failed him and he felt the strength leaving him.

"My dear boy I think I know what could help to calm your spirits," stepping back and taking a kneeling position. "I would like you to engage me in a grappling match. It may prove more therapeutic than you may first believe."

The professor's eyes were almost visible under his oversized eyebrows, almost.

Shrugging off his jacket and then removing his t-shirt to avoid damaging it. Then he too took a kneeling position in front of the professor. They both bowed and then started. Port raised his left leg into a right kneeling position. He extended his hands out and began to shuffle towards Jaune. Jaune took a mimicking stance and proceeded to shuffle towards Port.

Once they meet Port attacked he moved with a speed that Jaune would have thought impossible for the older man. The professor grabbed ahold of Jaune's left ankle with his left hand and lifted it up and across dragging the boy into a side control pin.

Before Jaune could react to this Port slid into a modified Kesa Gatame with Jaune's left arm held in Port's right armpit while Port's left arm slid under Jaune's right shoulder. Then the larger professor spread his legs on the ground in order to fend off Jaune's own attempt to bridge out.

Lifting his hips off the mat the rounded professor placed his weight on the younger man. Even though the weight would have been painful a high-level fighter like Jaune should have been able to handle it. This was what confused the teacher when he felt the boy frantically tapping the professor's side. It was the universal signal for submission. And it meant that for whatever reason Jaune was giving up.

Rolling back to a kneeling position Port looked over the student. He seemed fine and soon he too was in a kneeling position. "Are you injured?"

"I will live sir. I think I may need to retire for the night." with that said Jaune made an attempt to leave. He almost made it to the door before his legs gave out and he dropped to his knees. He swiftly rose back to his feet and left for his dorm.

…

Blake was still laying in her bed and waiting and worrying when she received a text.

(Jaune is fine. He should be on his way back to your dorm. Before you freak out this is Cardin)

To say that this confused and relieved Blake would be an understatement. She quickly typed back her own response.

(how did you get my number!)

She didn't have to wait long for her answer.

(Jaune and I both have our team's numbers in case we need to get in touch, it's a security thing.)

That made enough sense for Blake to let it go. She knew how he got it so that made enough sense. So with her worries laid to rest, she felt her pillow calling to her. It was 4:30 am and if she went to sleep now she may be asleep at noon but that was going to be alright since Beacon policy was for teams who lost a teammate to be removed from classes for at least three weeks. All the assignments given and due during that time frame would be removed from their records.

It was hard for the teachers but it was a compromise they were willing to make for their students. Especially those who lost half their team whether through death, running away, or moving to a different school.

It was safe to assume that she was going to not be expected to attend or even allowed to attend any classes tomorrow.

There was a sound that seemed to be movement coming from Yang's bed. Looking over to it Blake saw that Yang seemed to be tossing and turning as though she was in pain.

Rushing over to her friend and partner Blake saw that she was still asleep and that her tossing and turning seemed to be some manner of nightmare. By the time that Blake reached her Ruby had already woken up and reached her sister as well. During the commotion, Weiss also woke up but she hadn't done much besides stare blankly at the dark room.

"Yang, Yang wake up" Ruby cried as she shook her sleeping sister.

All at once Yang sat up and looked around in a state of panic. Her eyes frantically checked all of the places that Jaune normally slept and when she saw nothing she asked."where is Jaune, WHERE IS HE?"

she was growing more frantic and Blake had a disturbing idea as to why. It was no secret that Jaune had accessed some other power. And it seemed to affect both the physical world and the metaphysical one, that combined with Yang and Jaune friendship she may have been getting some of the things he was feeling. That could have flooded her with those feelings and in her state of slumber then that could, in turn, translate into a nightmare.

"Jaune is on his way here, Yang. he is almost here." Blake didn't even notice that she had forced herself into the space that Ruby used to occupy.

As she spoke the door opened slowly and after a moment Jaune's silhouette could be seen standing in the doorway. Blake had no idea how Jaune seemed to be there just as she said he would be but she wasn't going to curse her good luck to she let it go.

Jaune stood in the doorway looking in for several seconds.

"Um, Jaune. Are you going to say anything or even come in?" as she asked Weiss's voice betrayed her growing concern and confusion.

Then without a word Jaune dropped to the floor, unmoving and seemingly unconscious.

 **hey, sorry for the cliffhanger. I will admit that it helps get people to come back. But I swear that it isn't the only reason that I use them. they are a good way to get the readers to think about what has happened and what may happen. that way when you get the answers they are more satisfying. sort of a delayed gratification thing. and it helps the people who may take inspiration from my stories time to think of their own ideas. thank you for reading.**

 **Noruas.**


	19. Chapter 19

Team RWBY all ran across their room. "Jaune, JAUNE, JAUNE!" as she yelled Yang was growing more and more hysterical. When she reached him she rolled him onto his back and tried to shake him awake but it was ineffective.

At this point, Blake who was the de facto medic of team RWBY thanks to her time in the Fang began to check Jaune for injuries. She saw no visible injuries so she removed his shirt and saw a disturbing bruise that seemed to be the size of a large 20 oz apple on his left side. Next, she checked his vitals she knew that it should have been the first thing she did but she was tired and panicking

"His pulse is weak and he is not breathing. We need to get him to the infirmary NOW!" she made sure to stress the last part as if she was right the next thirty seconds would tell if Jaune lived or died.

Ruby made an attempt to lift Juane only to be thrown aside by what she later found out was her sister. Yang had grabbed Jaune and began to sprint in the direction of the infirmary.

Due to the nature of Beacon Academy, the infirmary was fully equipped to handle all manner of trauma care. And hopefully, they would be able to save Jaune.

She had made it to the doors and was about to kick them open when they opened to reveal Jorge in a lab coat waiting for her.

Yang was mildly confused, she thought that Jorge was back at the Arc homestead but here he was.

"Get him on the Bed, Now" Jorge yelled as he opened the door into one of the rooms. Yang quickly set Jaune down and then stepped back so that the doctors could see him.

soon Dr. Taft was standing next to him and looking for injuries while he muttered "no way in Hell am I losing three students and an unborn baby in two days." to himself. after he looked him over Dr. Taft's entire body slumped in defeat. Using his right hand he waved off the nurse who was hooking Jaune up to various monitors. "don't waste the time, he's gone." under his breath he muttered once more "Dammit Cyril, Dammit. is there anything you can do."

while she heard him Yang stopped listening after she heard him say that Jaune was dead. if she was grieving Pyrrha's death then, now she was beyond the use of words. she slowly felt herself sinking to her knees. the tears were falling and the rest of her team would be here soon. she heard the sound of Ruby, Blake, and Weiss skidding to a stop behind her.

...

if she was being honest Weiss didn't think that Jaune was actually capable of being killed by anything. but there he was. he lay on the bed lifeless, and he wasn't hooked up to any of the room's machines. then she saw Yang. she was on her knees next to the bed. Weiss could hear what seemed to be sobbing coming from her. but she also seemed to be unable to make coherent sounds. Weiss didn't really know what to do so she simply stood back. in truth, she was afraid of making things worse.

...

Ruby saw what had happened. and now she saw Yang. Ruby knew the pain that was coursing through her sister's veins. it was just under half a year ago that Ruby kneeled where Yang now kneeled. it just under half a year ago that Ruby looked into the lifeless eyes of the man she now knew she was in love with as he laid there dead in the street.

she rushed over to her sister and held her in her arms. she knew that there was no point in using words, Yang probably wouldn't hear them anyway. for now, Yang needed her and so here she would be.

...

Blake knew that Jaune being dead was a bad thing but at the moment she was more concerned with Jorge. it was no secret that Jorge had a soft spot for the young man. and right now Blake was worried about what he might do. Blake knew that he was dangerous. and now he was mentally distraught. and yet he seemed more contemplative than anything else. like he was weighing his options. whatever they may be.

this had Blake more on edge since she if he tried to push past this then when he finally crashed it would be devastating.

when Jorge started to move towards Jaune Blake considered trying to stop him but the speed with which the older man maneuvered was impressive and he was at Jaune's bedside before Blake could even try to move.

he quickly placed his hands over the bruise on Jaune's side. Jorge then closed his eyes and for a moment did nothing. then he began to speak. "Parod nun atitrazi." he was silent for a time then spoke again next when he spoke it was in a guttural tone that could have been mistaken for gibberish. "uugggh huurh raaaaaahhgh" then drawing his hands up Jorge said. "slanar teh ibic jag"

from Jaune's mouth and nose out flooded a dark red gas which Jorge then channeled into a biohazard container before he caused the gas to congeal into a liquid.

by now Jorge had team RWBY's full attention as they all silently watched Jorge put his hand back on Jaune's side as Jorge spoke again the very room seemed to shine with a light that emanated out from Jorge. " Gal - hi ráw

The next time that Jorge spoke his voice was again a whisper. now as he spoke light seemed to come from everywhere and bathe the room in white casting out all shadows. Blake was now severely straining herself but she managed to just make out what Jorge said. "Vinya fea ,hil- mime tur -o faire péle - ana sina hráve. Suime - coiv - en-" the more he spoke the brighter the already blinding light became until the girls could no longer see and were forced to cover their eyes.

when he finished Jorge removed his hands and much to the shock of team RWBY the bruise and other scars nearby had vanished. and ... he was breathing. he was breathing again. Blake couldn't believe it. Jorge had just brought someone back from the dead.

...

Yang had stifled her sobs when she saw Jorge begin to glow. and when the room was filled with a light so bright that she had to shield her eyes with her arm she felt a strange swell of hope, she couldn't tell why she felt so much hope but she felt it all the same.

When she lowered her arm Yang was shocked to see that Jaune seemed to be breathing. Quickly she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him and pressed her left ear to his chest.

And there it was a steady and stable heartbeat. Now Yang was again beyond speech but not out of grief but out of relief. Jaune was alive, she could hear his heartbeat and now she could hear his breathing.

"What the Hell just happened in here." Yang turned her head to see Dr. Taft standing in the doorway with an awestruck look on his face. "I just declared this man dead how is he breathing?"

This question drew Yang's focus back to Jaune. He was sleeping with a look of peace on his face. That face alone made Yang forgive Jorge for everything he had done and everything he would have done. Nothing he could do would change that the man before was alive because of him.

"Dr. Taft your patient WAS dead when you left he was killed by a pulmonary edema. I however through means that I need not explain to anyone here, managed to for lack of a better word resurrect your patient. Does that explain everything to you?"

Dr. Taft looked a little flabbergasted but soon recovered and said. "I wish it didn't but since I can't write that you used what sounds like godlike powers in as a cause of … undeath… am just going to say that I was mistaken and he was never dead." with a tired and conflicted sigh the doctor left the room. This left the children with a very good question.

"Jorge?" Yang said the statement more of a question. "What did you just do? Jaune was dead. And now… well, he isn't."

Jorge looked at the team of kids before him. Then with a sigh that rivaled the one from Taft, he raised his hand and the door closed even though Jorge was on the other side of the room. "Alright, we have a lot to talk about, but I guess you should find out eventually."

With a wave of his hand, the chairs from all of the room floated into a circle. An impressive feat since he had to rearrange some other pieces of furniture to do this.

"Take a seat and listen well children, I have a story to tell."

…

"And that was how I became as powerful as I am now." with that Jorge had recounted the tale of his youth, and explained the idea of the force to the team. They seemed a little confused at first but they soon understood.

"So how powerful are you?" Ruby asked. Her eyes wide in wonder at the tale of love betrayal and survival that was Jorge's youth.

"I have the potential to be omnipotent young one." as Jorge answered he realized that they now understood that when he said young one he was far from joking.

"Omni-what?" she asked confused by the uncommon term.

"omnipotent, he means that he has the ability to be all powerful. Not that I believe him" even as she spoke Weiss's voice showed no attempt to hide the clear disdain she held for Jorge's story. "I mean really," she continued looking directly at Jorge this time. "If you had all this power then why are we fighting against the Grimm, why are people dying every day from diseases that you could remove from existence?" she was getting more and more worked up with each breath she took before she finally yelled, "HOW CAN A F…"

"Father claim to love his children even when he sees them as little more than chess pieces to be sacrificed when it is convenient, how can a mother continue to drink herself into an early grave even though her daughters need her. How can a girl's parents leave her to be raised by her sister and the family butler." Jorge's interruption came as a surprise. The rest of team RWBY want to not believe that anything he was saying was true but the way that Weiss's eyes were growing more and more watered before she finally broke down in tears. As she was shaking from her sobbing Jorge reached out and placed a hand on her back saying. "I can't answer all of the world's questions but I can tell you that if I went through and fixed all of the problems of the world If I saved every child with awful parents. Then it wouldn't be a world of people. It would be a world of things that I allow to live. I don't want to play God like that." looking down with a face of shame Jorge said in a low voice "believe me I have tried,"

Weiss looked up at him with now bloodshot eyes and tried to speak only to have her words fail her."I know," Jorge said every fiber of my being wanted to kill Jaques and then get you, Winter and Whitley set up with a father and mother worth having. But there are certain lines that I don't allow myself to cross. Cause If I allow one exception then where do I stop. I wouldn't have done what I just did with Jaune but I made Romerean a promise. And I can't break that promise."

Now it was Blake's turn to speak. "What are these rules of yours?" she wanted to know in part because she was skeptical and in part because of the damned curiosity.

"Well," Jorge said looking from the young Schnee over to Blake. "To make them as simple as possible I don't allow myself to make any major decisions, and I normally refuse to mess with the cycle of life and death. there are more but those two are the best way to get the general idea across. And before any of you ask no I won't bring anyone back from the grave. Even now just the act of realigning Jaune's soul into his body like I did is going to have serious repercussions. When I did that I brought a lot of light power into play in the world. Power that wasn't here before. And now the universe will find some way to bring more dark power into the world. I don't know how. And when it does I need to get someone else to deal with it. Cause if I do it then it will just keep cascading on and on and on. And that never ends well."

Team RWBY didn't notice when Jorge had picked up Weiss who was exhausted, to begin with, and had just now cried herself to sleep. He made a nodding movement with his head towards the door. Taking the hint Ruby, and Blake stood and followed him back to their door. Yang, of course, refused to leave the room though she had moved from her chair to back over the side of the bed. And had her head back on Jaune's chest. It was a little thing but she wanted to hear his heartbeat.

It was a little thing but considering that five minutes ago it wasn't there. Then the steady thumping of his blood pumping organ was the most calming thing she had ever heard. Know that she had a sleepless night like the rest of her team Yang closed her eyes and relaxed. She allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

 _ **Hello, Noruas here. I know that this chapter covered a lot and could be very confusing. if you have any questions PM me or ask in a review and I will get back to you as soon as possible. if you are confused it isn't your fault. it is most likely mine, I wrote this over the course of two weeks and a vacation so there may be something I have missed. please and thank you additonally this is the final chapter of this story. I will post the next stories name in the bottom of the description of this one. for now I need to focus on what is ahead.  
**_

 _ **Noruas Bombadil.**_


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